Seeking Eyes, Hidden Mind
by Naruyaoi
Summary: It's just extra training, right? Shino can't mean anything by it, he just noticed that Hinata's trying to get stronger and wants to help, right? ShinoHinata
1. Training

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plotline of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

A/N: Well, Our Neji/Deidara fic is going well, so we decided to start writing another story that's been bugging Mika and myself. A big fans as we are of Itachi/Hinata, we also love Shino/Hinata pairings. This fic is being written to show that we love that pairing too. As always, please review, and remember, spaces are open.

Writers: Mika and Tenchi

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships(m/f) and posible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

Shino sighed after the day's training was done. he pulled off his glasses and wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. Once that was done he returned his glasses to their place. Kiba had run off as soon as training had been announced over, but Hinata still stood there.

Hinata took deep breathes as she rested. She had been training hard for the past few days, well harder. She shook her head a bit and sat down. Kiba had run off, she knew he didn't like training, but had to do it. The Hyuuga girl looked over at Shino. " S-..Shino-kun, aren't you going t-to leave too?" she was wiping sweat that was rolling down the side of her face. She expected that Shino would have left as soon as training was over as well.

Instead of answering her question, Shino turned to look at her through his shades. "You've been training harder lately."

She smiled a bit as she nodded. " I...w-want to get s-stronger. So I-I can help m-myself." She stood up again and poked her two index fingers together like always. " You should g-go Shino-kun."

"Do you want me to leave, Hinata-chan?" Shino didn't sound any different then normal. His hands were in his pockets as he stood there.

Hinata jumped slightly at the question. did it sound like she said that? " ah! N-no! I mean.. ah... I'm s-sorry!" She bowed in apology and looked up. She didn't mean to sound.. mean.

"If you want to get stronger, Hinata, I can help you train." Shino adjusted his glasses.

She stood up straight and shook her head. ' It's okay S-shino-kun. I'm ...alright." Hinata really wanted the help, but didn't want Shino to go through the trouble of helping her, after all, her father never bothered to help along with most of the clan. " Thank you t-though."

Shino moved closer to her until he was looking down at her. "Why are you so timid? Say what you want, Hinata, not what you think you should."

Hinata blinked as she looked down at her feet, fingers fiddling with one another. "a... um... I... don't like to.. I mean... " She stepped back a bit thinking to herself. ' Shino is right... but... I don't like.. I can't say things...'

He reached out and tilted her face to look at him. "Do you want me to help you train, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata blushed as she kept quiet for a while. Once she regained her senses she back up more and shook her head while bending slightly in embarrassment. 'Why did Shino-kun do that?' " N-No It's o-okay, re-really!" She had her hands to her face, hiding the blushing.

There was a soft chuckle from the behind Shino's collar. "Tomorrow plan to stay an hour longer." With that said, he turned and started to walk towards his home.

Hinata stood there in confusion. After a short moment or two she smiled and ran up a few steps. " Shino-kun!" Stopping, she bowed and smiled. ' T-Thank you"

He turned and returned her bow. "You are welcome, Hinata-chan."

Hinata turned and picked up a bag that she had brought, she sighed as she looked inside. Medicine for Naruto... she couldn't do that now. Training went over a tad bit than usual. she'd wait until after tomorrows lesson.

There was a yipping from a white puppy and soon Hinata had Akamaru in her arms and Kiba standing next to her. "Oy, Hinata-chan. What were you talking to Shino about?"

Hinata smiled as she held Akamaru. Looking up at Kiba she shook her head. " Nothing i-important. Kiba-kun." She placed Akamaru down and held out a treat for him. ' Was Shino-kun serious about the training?' Patting Akamaru on the head, she stood up and dusted off her sweater.

"You sure? Your cheeks are red." Kiba suddenly growled. "He didn't try anything did he?"

Hinata shook her head. " N-no! Shino-kun w-wouldn't do a-anything!" Hinata held out her handsd to calm Kiba down. He was an older brother to her, so she felt comfortable around him. " I don't think S-shino is the t-type to do a-anything to anyone."

Kiba stopped growling. "You let me know if anyone tries anything, Hinata. I'll set 'em straight!"

Hinata smiled and nodded. "O-okay, Kiba-kun." Hinata turned around and took a deep breath. They were training alone today, so they all had to start on their own. If they got done fast, maybe she could go and drop of the medicine to Naruto. Closing her eyes she thought of what she'd say to Naruto once she gave it to him. 'Naruto-kun...'

Shino and Kiba stood on top of the hill that was the usual meeting place for thier team. Shino looked as impassive as ever, but Kiba looked agitated, and he kept looking at Shino.

Hinata ran up the hill, she stopped at the top where Shino was along weith Kiba. "ah.. Sorry I-I'm late. " she took deep breathes as she rested. She had ran from the Hyugga esate to their meeting spot. " Hello Akamaru." She took the small white dog in her hands and hugged him lightly.

Shino just nodded to her and Kiba gave her an enthusiastic hello. Akamaru licked her face before jumping out of her arms and barking.

"Are you ready to spar, Hinata?" Shino pulled his hands out of his pocket and moved, looking less tree-like now that he wasn't standing still.

Hinata nodded and placed a bag that she held to the side. She looked at Kiba and lowered her head slightly. " Kiba-kun.. could y-you and S-Shino-kun attack me.. at t-the same t-t-time?"

"Sure Hinata." Kiba was surprised. Hinata didn't usually ask what she wanted. He looked at Shino and the other man nodded and they both took fighting stances.

Hinata held a stern expression as she spread her legs a bit while moving her hands up and doing a few signs. Closing her eyes she concentrated on the hand signs these were familiar though. " Byakugen! " Hinata moved, her palms out to strike at Kiba first.

Kiba bounded away on all fours while Shino shifted and called to his bugs to exit his body. the black bugs swarmed the air around him as he moved.

Hinata turned as she missed Kiba. Shino was going to be hard. She stood in stance as she looked at Shino, trying to figure out how she'd be able to hit him. ' Maybe if I used Kiba.. but ... no... he also has Akamaru.. but he could be used as well... damnit'

While she was distracted in thought, Shino tossed a kunai at her and dodged around a bush. Kiba was coming up on her in a different direction with Akamaru finishing their three pronged attack.

Hinata quickly moved and knocked the kunai away, scratching her hand with it. Using her Byakugen, she looked to see where Kiba was coming from, also moving quickly out of the way and landing a kick on Kiba's side. It wasn't very good though since they were up on a hill and almost lost her footing.

Akamaru lunged at her at the same time that Shino moved in to attack. Kiba smirked and caught hold of Hinata's ankles to keep her from dodging the attacks.

" Ah!" Hinata moved her hands quickly . "Kawarimi no justu!" A puff of smoke came as Hinata was replaced with a log, making it so that Akamaru ended up launching his attack at Kiba himself. Hinata hid quietly in a near by bush as she thought on what to do. ' That was close...'

Shino tapped her on the shoulder before gripping her around the waist, pinning her arms.

Hinata gasped as she struggled against Shino's grip. ' No, I need to get stronger. Gah, not good. ' She was running through her mind on what she could do.

the bug clone Shino had set up was still searching for Hinata with Kiba, or looked as though it was. "Well, Hinata-chan, can you get free?" Because of obligatory placement of his head, his breath puffed over her ear as he spoke.

Hinata closed he eyes as she felt the puffed breath, It felt so... odd it made her blush. Her arms weren't any good, so that canceled out her hands.. her legs? " Yes.. I can" She moved her legs so that it was on Shino's stomach and pushed him off with most of her leg strength.

He let out a soft "Oof" as she pushed and let her go, falling onto his back. He immediately rolled to his feet and made a lung for the pale girl.

She took a few kunai out and tossed them at Shino. One or two with explosive tags. Kiba was a small matter right now since he wasn't realizing that the bug clone Shino wasn't Shino.

Silly dog boy, falling for the clone because Shino had put his jacket on it. Shino was fighting bare-chested and because the clone wore his jacket, Kiba would think it was him. Shino rolled away from the kunai and batted the last one away. "You're getting better."

Hinata had a frown on but it turned into a small smile, not wasting time like she had been, she charged at Shino, pin pointing a pressure spot that wouldn't harm him too badly.

He could move or he could let her strike him... He let the strike impact and then gripped her arm tightly. He wrapped his leg around one of her to bring her to the ground and pin her. He sat there, straddling her hips and pinning her arms to her sides.

It took her a while to notice what happened, but when she did, she began to struggle and squirm. Another blush came when she knew that Shino was on her. She didn't want to give up, but she really couldn't move.

Having Hinata squirm under him like that was highly distracting. It took a great deal of will power not to bend over and kiss her with their current position. It would be all to easy to take advantage of the situation.

Hinata stopped squirming and just laid there. She lost, but it helped her a lot to fight with them. She was still blushing, but it wasn't as bad. " T-thank you, S-Shino-kun."

She got a nod from the usually silent man before he stood up and offered her his hand. Bug clone Shino was still distracting Kiba.

Hinata took his hand and stood up. Smiling she ran over to Kiba and waved. " Kiba-kun! I-it's over, S-shino caught me!" She laughed at how he had been distracted with the bug clone.

Kiba looked over at them, then at the clone and growled angrily as the clone disintegrated into a bunch of bugs and a white coat. "You need to be more alert, Kiba."

Hinata nodded smiling. These two were fun to be with. Hinata was still a tad bit red, but it was fading. She grabbed her bag and pulled out some lunch for them. " I m-made them t-this morning. I have s-some for Akamaru t-too." she held the two extra boxes out after setting out some food for the white dog.

Shino let his collar hide a smile as he took the bento from the Hyuuga girl. "Than you, Hinata-chan."

Kiba grabbed his excitedly. "Thanks Hinata!" He said before tearing into the food.

Hinata smiled gleefully. They always were nice to her. She liked that a lot. she opened her bento and ate quietly. A few thoughts ran in her head. It caught her off guard when she thought of Shino just a few moments ago.

Shino had pulled his coat back on after the spar had finished and before Hinata had passed out food. He ate calmly, disgusted by the way Kiba ate, and let his thoughts dwell where they would, almost predictably landing on Hinata.

Hinata was thinking still about Shino, it really got her when she thought he looked rather cute. She had food in her mouth so she started to choke a bit, pounding her chest a bit to make it stop.

"You OK, Hinata?" Kiba asked as Shino just glanced up at her through his glasses. Hinata could read what was seen of his face well enough to know he was worried.

Hinata nodded as she coughed a bit more. " I'm oka-" she coughed again. "Okay." She looked up at Shino and looked away quickly, face turning a bit red. " I.. should g-go... " She stood up and placed her bento inside her bag. ' Thank you for the training today, Kiba-kun, and.. Shino-kun.. Bye Akamaru." She stepped away and quickly ran.

Kiba looked after her. "I wonder what's got her so worried?" Kiba looked after her and then shrugged and started to head for home. Shino frowned slightly and stood up. Hadn't he told her to plan to stay an extra hour for training? He stood up and walked after her.

"Hinata-chan," he called softly, once he had caught up. "I thought we were going to train together, Hinata."

Hinata stopped and turned around. "ah.. erm.. I-i'm sorry, Shino-kun. But I need to g-go... I'm sorry." She bowed turned around and quickly left. Truth be told, Hinata was a bit scared at the moment. She wanted to just leave and ..well.. do what ever. She looked at her bag and smiled a tiny bit. She could give the Medicine to Naruto now since she had nothing to do. ' ...While I'm at it, I'll tell Naruto-kun.' She gulped at the idea, but it had been such a long time since she first liked Naruto. Confessing to Naruto had been on her mind for a few days, and now was a good time... at least that's what she thought.


	2. Rejection

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plotline of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

Shino watched the kunoichi leave, his expression made unreadable by his oversized collar and dark glasses. His gaze stayed on her until she was out of sight. He then turned and went into the forest to train on his own.

Naruto was in his favorite ramen stand with three empty bowls next to him and a full one in front of him. "Itadakemasu!" he cried before snapping a new pair of chopsticks and digging in.

Hinata thought about how she would tell Naruto as she ran. Naruto was so easy to find. If he wasn't at one place, he was at another. Hinata had watched Naruto so many times. She admired his self-confidence, how he could stand up to others, even if they still looked down upon him. He was everything she wanted to be. ' No backing down... I ... I have to speak out to him... No stuttering.' Hinata was deep in thought to notice that she was there. ' I'll give him the medicine, and.. and..' she tried to think of what to do next once she did hand over the medicine.

Naruto didn't give Hinata much time to figure it out. He noticed her shortly after she walked in. "Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" He had bits of ramen on his whiskered cheeks as he grinned at her.

Hinata blushed when she herd her name being greeted. " Ah... erm.. Naruto-k-kun... " She looked down and fiddled with her fingers. Saying she would tell Naruto was much harder than done. Taking a large gulp she reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle. " H-here Naruto-ku...kun." Hinata had been giving him medicine lately, she always got worried when Naruto was out or in a fight. The shy Hyuuga held walked to the Kyuubi boy and held out the bottle, she bit her lip as she hid her face. ' I have to tell him.. I have to... Don't run away...'. Poor, wishful kunoichi.

"More medicine, thanks Hinata-chan, I needed more." He grinned again at the shy girl. "You want some ramen? My treat."

Hinata shook her head. " N-no thank you, N-Naruto-kun." She moved her feet nervously as she pressed her two index fingers together. She stayed silent for a while, she could feel tears swelling up in her eyes. She Her face was bright red as she tried to speak. ' Talk! I need to say something...'. Was Hinata really going to confess?

"Alright, if that's what you want. Thanks again for the medicine, Hinata-chan." He turned back to his bowl of ramen.

Hinata looked up quickly. Why couldn't she say it? She bit her bottom lip in annoyance of herself. ' I'll just come out with it... He... might like me...'. The Hyuuga winced at the word _might._ "N-naruto-kun... Erm... I.. I.. want to t-talk with y-you... "The gentle Kunoichi was red with embarrassment, white eyes hidden by the tightly shut eyelids. ' This is it... I can't believe it.. I'm doing it!'. It was easy to please Hinata. She never asked for much.

"Mmm? About what, Hinata-chan?" The Kyuubi boy turned to look at her, his bright blue eyes meeting her pale lavender ones.

Hinata turned even redder. It was probably a new shade of red that others would never see again. " Um... N-...Naru..Narut-to-k-kun... um... " Her fingers fiddled some more. ' Tell him.. tell him! I can do this...'. She took a deep breath as the words were beginning to spill from her mind to her mouth. "Naruto-kun.. I... I... L-l-love.. y-y-yo- ou!" The Pearl white eyes were locked onto the Kyuubi's. She was waiting for an answer. It was good to feel all that emotion being put in it's place by telling it to the one that she cared about. Fear and happiness filled her.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, the silence seeming to stretch into eternity. "Hinata-chan..." Just the sympathy in his voice already said what he didn't want to. He didn't care for her, not that way. "Hinata-chan, I'm sorry. I just don't...I just can't..." His sky-blue eyes were filled with sympathy and friendship, but nothing more. "I don't love you, I'm sorry Hinata-chan."

Silence... That's all that hit the shot down Kunoichi. So long.. she had been waiting to long to build up the courage to tell him. After a few minuets of standing, she nodded and turned around. Hinata had held back tears, but this was too much. " It's okay... I'm sorry..." Her hands were to her face, she wanted to hide the tears so badly, she wanted to yell at some one, she wanted to cry on some one. But no one was there. She ran away from the spot. Hinata didn't look out to where she ran. It was hard enough to concentrate on keeping the hurtful echoing words away.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto stood up and started running after the Hyuuga girl. Oh man, he was so stupid. He could have agreed to go on a date with her and then let her see that they weren't right for each other. Damnit, of all the stupid things to say...  
" No. No. No. No. No." Hinata was still running. She didn't notice that she had ran back to where Shino, Kiba, and her had trained earlier that day. Poor Hinata, struck down by some one she had admired for so long, what's worse is that he didn't even think about what he was going to say. ' I should've kept quiet! I'm no good when speaking!'

Naruto lost sight of her long before they reached the training grounds. He stopped, panting with his hands on his knees. He looked in the direction she had been going in and sighed before heading for his apartment. He'd have to make it up to her later.

Shino had just finished training and had walked out of the forest when he spotted a very upset Hinata. For a fraction of a second he considered just leaving and letting her sort out her problems. He started walking towards her. When he got closer, he softly called out her name.

Hinata had crouched down behind a tree and was crying to her self helplessly. Her hands balled up into fists and covering her eyes. She was glad she had lost Naruto, she didn't want to talk to him at the moment. " Whaa-'hic'-aa. 'hic hic' ungh. ehh 'hic' whaa" she looked up as she wiped her nose with her wet sleeve. Why was Shino still here? " S-shi'hic'no-k-kun? " this time, her stuttering weren't from insecurity.

Shino knelt down next to his teammate and offered her a handkerchief from one of his pockets. He didn't ask her what was wrong, she'd tell him if he waited, and it would be better if he didn't prompt her. He settled on the balls of his feet to watch her through his dark shades.

Hinata took the handkerchief and cleaned her face from tears. Crying seemed to do her well. Once she had cried her self out, she looked up at Shino, her cheeks marked with tear stains. " Thank y-you Shino-kun..." She looked down at the grass below her, thoughts running in her mind. " N-naruto-kun s-s-aid no.." She fought back new tears, she had cried enough.

Shino had to fight back a brief flare of hatred for the blond ninja. His lips pressed into a thin line behind the collar of his coat. Naruto was either brain dead or blind to have turned down Hinata, and he suspected the former as more likely. She may be shy, but she was powerful and kind. "He's brain-damaged then."

" Don't s-say that S-shino-kun!" Hinata looked up quickly, she looked a bit confused, but sure of herself. Her look softened as she sighed quietly. " Naruto-kun i-is wond-derful... he j-just didn't know w-what he was doing." unknown to Hinata, in the back of her mind she was just making up excuses to disagree with Shino. She knew that he was rather... stupid... but what was worse is that she also knew she never really loved Naruto, but loved his actions. But like any other girl like Hinata, she denied it and kept it hidden away.

"I don't doubt that," Shino's tone was dry and about as sarcastic as he ever gets. He still rested on the balls of his feet, his forearms resting on his knees. "But he is brain-damaged to refuse you."

"B-but..." Hinata thought, but nothing came to mind. Shino was right, but she didn't want to admit it. It was sad how Hinata didn't realize that she was in love with the idea of Naruto, not Naruto himself. The heart broken Hyuuga looked down and rested her head on her knees that she had hugged. She kept quiet like always, but this was more of a silence that was meant to be left alone.

Shino looked at her a moment longer before removing his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. he then lifted her and stood up. "Let's get you home, Hinata-chan." He didn't say anything else, just started to walk quickly towards the Hyuuga manor.

Hinata simply nodded. It was all the Hyuuga girl could do. As they walked, a thought came to mind. 'Why is Shino-kun being so nice?'  
Shino kept walking. Hinata was right to wonder, Shino never did anything without a reason. His reasoning in this was simple, he had feelings for the Hyuuga girl, feelings he tried to keep suppressed. He knew how she felt for Naruto, and he wasn't about to get in her way if it would make her happy. After tonight, however, he was sorely tempted to kill the blond ninja and blame it on the Akatsuki.

Hinata gave a small sigh as she walked with Shino. She held the jacket close since it was rather warm and made her feel safe. " I-I'm sorry f-f-or crying, S-shino-kun." She had finally spoke after 10 minuets of silence. Naruto was still on her mind, but so was her recent question. The pale pearl eyes looked up towards the direction of the tree like (a/n/M: Had to say it, just HAD to. I mean he looks like one...) ninja. The flush of the normal, shy Hinata came back.

"Don't be, if it helped." That was all Shino said. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, the motion hidden by the dark glasses he always wore. For a long moment it seemed like he was not going to say anything else. But, as the gate to the Hyuuga household neared, he spoke again, softly, and almost inaudibly. "Find me if you ever need to talk." With that last, brief, sentence, Shino left. He would let Hinata keep that jacket, he had others, and he'd noticed how secure she seemed to feel wrapped up in it.

"Thank you." Hinata smiled a bit, she tugged the jacket tightly as she opened the Manor entrance and walked in. It was still rather early, but crying had made her head hurt and tired. ' "Find me if you ever need to talk" ...'. Each time she repeated those words in her head, it seemed as if what Naruto had said... never happened.

"Where have you been, Hinata?" her fathers harsh voice entered the room before he did. Hyuuga Hiashi was a stern and angry looking man. "And why do you have that Aburame's jacket? Just what were you doing when you were supposed to be home helping your sister train?"  
Hanabi, Hinata's little sister, stood beside her father, her face smug. Hanabi had always dislike her elder sister, getting her into trouble whenever possible. She knew that only one of them could be the heir of the Hyuuga family, and she intended for it to be her.

Hinata looked at the floor. "S-sorry... I.. was out t-training. I l-lost track of t-time..." The Shy Hyuuga pulled the jacket off and folded it so that is was hanging on her arms. " S-shino-kun gave m-me his jacket s-since h-he won while t-training..." She barely had her voice up from whisper as she spoke, she didn't want it to. "Sorry a-again..."

"At least you were doing something constructive. Next time you decide to do extra training, alert me first." Hiashi frowned before turning and walking off, Hanabi following at his heels.

Hinata took a deep breath as she headed to her room. Hanabi was usually like this to her, so it wasn't anything new. It was in Hinata's nature to be shy and timid, she couldn't help it. Looking down at the jacket she smiled a little. Shino was nice today, and she was glad about that. She placed the jacket neatly on her bed and went off to shower; she didn't want to feel dirty for the rest for the afternoon.


	3. Meetings

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plotline of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

A/N: Hello people! I know there are those of you who want to kill myself and Mika for not updating sooner. And all I have to say is that that number will increase after this chapter. So read, enjoy, and send death-threats to the writers! It really does make us write faster.

The next day, instead of going to the hill to meet with his team, Aburame Shino walked to the Hyuuga compound. He very politely knocked on the door and waited for it to be answered. He was dressed as he usually was, sunglasses, black pants, and a coat with an overly large collar.

A Hyuuga answered the door. " Yes?" It was a female. " How may I help you?" She seemed nice, so it was easier for people to ask what ever that wanted. " Oh? The Aburame boy? Erm do you want to speak with Hinata-san?"

"I am here to speak to her father, if it is possible." Even to one with the Byakugen his expression was unreadable to those who did not know him. "If that is not possible then I am here to take Hinata to train,"

"Alright, please come in side and wait here, I'll go see what can be done." The female ran off quickly, she wasn't more than 15. Shino nodded and stepped inside the door, sliding it shut behind him. He rested lightly against the wall, observing the compound through dark glasses. The female came back not to long afterwards, bowing as she spoke. " Hiashi is busy right now. Hanabi-san has said to come back with in an hour or so to and speak with him. Sorry." She stood back straight and pointed down the hall. " Hinata-san should be down the hall and to the left. She's finishing making lunch." the female Hyuuga smiled and walked off quickly.

Shino watched her leave before turning and heading down the hall. He entered the kitchen. "Hinata-chan."

Hinata was wrapping the bento in white cloth when Shino entered. she quickly turned around, startled that Shino was even here. " "Ah! S-shino-kun. H-hello" The Hyuuga girl had her jacket of and was holding a bento box up as if using it for defense.

He slowly raised an eyebrow at the defensive gesture. He didn't apologize, he'd not done anything wrong. "Let me know when you are ready to go, Hinata-chan."

Hinata nodded as she turned back around and finished up the other Bento. Placing them into a bag, she grabbed her jacket and wiggled into it. Her head shook to fix her short hair from the something in her jacket. "Okay, s-shino-kun. I'm r-ready."

He nodded and offered silently to carry the bag for her. The question was expressed by a slight shift in his posture and one hand slipping out of his pocket. She hesitated at first but gave the bag to Shino smiling. "T-thank you, Shino-kun." Silence swept over for a moment, Hinata tugged on Shino's sleeve lightly and looked at her hands. " Why a-are you h-here Shino-k-kun?"

"I came to pick you up, and I had hoped to speak to your father about extra training, if you still would like my help." that a was a veritable speech for Shino.

Hinata nodded. " H-he's h-helping Hanabi w-work on some.. j-justu..." Hinata quieted her voice as she spoke.  
He nodded. "I'll come back later to talk with him." He held the bag with the bento as he headed for the entrance to the Hyuuga grounds. "Kiba is probably wondering where we are."

" P-probably... Let's g-go. " She walked after him, saying goodbye to any Hyuugas that they came across. ' This was odd... Shino never comes to see me...' She thought to her self as they walked to the training grounds where they were supposed to meet Kiba.

Kiba was waiting for them, and Shino had been right, Kiba was pacing, agitated. "Where were you two?! I'm usually the late one!".

Hinata smiled and tilted her head slightly. " Sorry, k-kiba-kun. I was g-getting lunch ready f-for you two." She looked at Shino and blushed a bit, she didn't know why, but she did. " Akamaru, hello." she went over to the white dog and picked it up, letting him lick her cheek. "I-I brought you a treat t-today." She pulled out a some food that was wrapped in a napkin and fed it to Akamaru. " It's f-from last night, I t-thought you might l-like i-it"

Akamaru barked and happily ate the scraps that Hinata fed him before licking her hand clean. Kiba grinned at her. "Heh, well, you two are here now. Let's train.

The Hyuuga nodded as she patted Akamaru on the head. " Y-yeah. " She stood up and wiped her hand on her jacket before turning to Shino. " You r-ready Shino-kun?"

"Hai," He set the bento where they wouldn't get squashed and pulled his other hand from his pocket, ready to fight. Kiba grinned and gave Akamaru a solider pill. Soon the puppy was a mirror image of Kiba. Hinata took a stance and activated her Byakugen. Veins showed as she opened her eyes. The Hyuuga waited for one of the two men to attack some one.

Kiba was the first to move. He and Akamaru used the spinning fang on her. As they did that, Shino let his bugs swarm out through his enlarged tenketsu. More and more bugs came pouring out of his neckline and sleeves. It was amazing how many kikai Shino kept inside him. Hinata made some quick hand signs and used a substitution jutsu like last time. She didn't go far, only enough to dodge Kiba's attack. She moved closer and got Either Kiba or Akamaru on the side with a kick, while the other got a palm at the side. Bugs began to creep along Hinata's arms. ' Damn.' moved away quickly, almost tripping over herself.

Some fell off, but most of them clung tightly. Each little bug positioned itself over one of her tenketsu. This was a technique that Shino had been working on to try and imitate the sixty-four divine strikes attack that Neji had. He couldn't see the tenketsu, his eyes were not that good, but the kikai could feel them, and through them, Shino knew exactly where they were. Hinata tried to brush them off, she knew what they were doing. She was concentrating on getting the bugs off, that she didn't notice one of the Kiba's about to attack her. The Hyuuga whipped off her jacket that the bugs were clung onto and threw it to the ground, some were still on, but it wouldn't harm her much.

The Kiba that had been about to attack promptly fell over with blood gushing from his nose. The other Kiba, now clearly Akamaru walked over to help him up. This was the first time that the team had seen Hinata without her bulky winter jacket. Shino let a smile twitch behind his collar. He kept his mind on the fight however, ordering his bugs to block the tenketsu they covered.

Hinata moved, trying to shake the left over bugs off her. They wouldn't. They were blocking some tenketsu, but she could still use some justu with out harming herself. The Hyuuga noticed the real Kiba gush out blood for some odd reason. Quickly, she moved over to check on him. " Ki- Kiba-kun! You a-alright?" Hinata being the gentle caring self she is, pulled out a cloth and handed it to Kiba. She didn't forget about the bugs, but Kiba needed some attention.

Shino moved up behind Hinata as she tended to Kiba's nosebleed, unintentionally making it worse. The bug user slipped up close before catching one of her arms with his hand and pinning the other to her body with an arm around her waist. "I've caught you again, Hinata."

This scared Hinata, making her 'Eap' quietly. She was rather close to Shino, and it felt awkward. The female Hyuuga flushed as she turned her head slightly to look at Shino. Both hands were being held, so she couldn't use them. Actually it felt as if she was frozen in place. " Y-you scared me... Sh-shino-kun." Her eyes kept from looking at the dark glasses that hid the Aburame's eyes.

Shino was very glad that his glasses were still firmly in place as he looked down at Hinata. "That was not my intent," was all he said before gently releasing her wrist and arm.

When she was released, Hinata turned around to get a better look at Shino. ' What... is under.. there?' She thought to herself, she never had given though about it before. Sure, he was a teammate and never took them off, but... why? " Shino-kun..." A gentle hand reached up and touched the cheekbone of the Aburame while the other one, some how and with out her realizing, took off the glasses with a swipe.

Shino had gone completely still when he felt Hinata's hand on his cheek, and when she pulled his glasses off, the only thing he'd been able to do was widen his solid black eyes. Pupil, iris, white, all were a solid, unrelieved black. He stared at Hinata a moment in shock, not fully realizing what had happened before he reached for his glasses, one arm coming up to hide his face.

Hinata stared, not with shock, but with curiosity. "... ah! I'm... I'm sorry!" She placed the glasses in the hand that was reaching for them. Hinata backed away, almost bumping into Kiba. " T-that was rude o-of me! I'm s-sorry Shino-kun!" What was bad is that, Hinata wasn't sorry. She had got to see what was behind the glasses; they were like her own, only solid black. They were an odd type of black though, one that could either be feared, or loved. Unlike her own, her own white eyes were always gentle. She bowed and kept her gaze away form Shino. Hinata was ashamed at her self for doing something mean, and embarrassed for doing it with out knowing.

Shino took the glasses and paced the back on his face before dropping his arm. With his face hidden again, he seemed calm, but his mind was anything but. He called his bugs off of Hinata and handed her back her jacket. He then walked over to Kiba and helped him up. "Go home, Kiba. You're not going to be able to train like this."

Amazingly, Kiba left, offering no argument. Once Kiba was gone, Shino was half tempted to call the dog boy back. He was unsure how to respond to Hinata now that she had seen his eyes.

Hinata simply stood and kept her head down. She wanted Kiba to come back, but he was already gone. This was rather.. odd as well. As a matter of fact, the whole day was odd. She still had her Byakugen on, so she had started to look around to find an excuse to leave. "Erm...". She moved a foot lightly over the grass, not finding anything to make up. Hinata liked his eyes though. They were nice. It was a shame he hid them all the time. There were many more out there who were more odd. At this time, Kisame sneezed...

Well, he had promised her extra training, but for that he still needed to speak to her father. "...Hinata, I'll walk you home, since I have to talk with your father anyway." No matter how confused he was about Hinata, he would keep his promise of extra training.

Hinata nodded as she deactivated her Byakugen. The short hair Kunoichi turned and began to walk to the manor with Shino. At first it was quiet, but once Hinata raised her head, she broke the silence. " Shino..." She didn't make eye contact, but she was facing him. " I-I'm sorry.."  
"I can not blame you for your curiosity." He didn't make eye contact either. He was glad again for having his glasses hiding his eyes. He wasn't sure he could keep the emotion from the black depths. His kikai sensed his agitation and buzzed under his skin. Hinata nodded and faced back to the ground. Again it was quiet. Once past the Manor gates, they were greeted by the same female as before.

" Ah! Hinata-san, welcome home." She bowed smiling and saw the Aburame. " Oh! Shino, you're here too? No matter, welcome back as well. Hanabi came to get you a few moments after you left. Hiashi is again probably with Hanabi, but I'm mostly positive you can go see him." She took Hinata's jacket that had been picked up and held in the Hyuuga kunoichi's arms the whole way. " Hinata, can you show him the way? I have to finish helping your cousin with those wretched bandages." Hinata laughed a bit and nodded. This female was one of her family friends.

" C-c'mon Shino-kun, i-it's down h-here." Hinata was already walking down the hall to Hiashi's private room. Shino nodded and followed the shy kunoichi. he adjusted his glasses, just slightly paranoid about them now. Hinata led him down the hall quickly and stood in front of a large door.

"Here we are..." She tapped the door lightly, wondering if she was doing the right thing to interrupt what ever was going on in there. She stayed silent before she herd a voice, it was her father.

"Hanabi, answer your sister. The Aburame is with her." Hinata stepped back as she waited for Hanabi to open the door. She wasn't allowed to go inside unless called in by her father.

Hanabi opened the door with a frown at Hinata and a smile at Shino. She bowed to the Aburame, doing her best to seem cute and charming. "Welcome to our home, Aburame Shino-sama." Shino responded with a bow.

"Thank you for welcoming me." Hanabi stepped aside to let the older boy in, but very pointedly walked in before Hinata.

Hinata bowed before stepping in after her sister. The pale eyes kept down, not sure if she was supposed to follow in after the two or stay out and just listen in. Either way she probably wasn't going to be able to talk.

Once in the room, Shino bowed to the leader of the Hyuuga clan. "Hyuuga-sama." For Shino, this was a strangely talkative day.

Hinata followed and sat near the back, her fingers twiddling with another. " Shino, I'm glad you are here. I've been meaning to talk to your clan fist about this, but since you are here, you may tell them about it." It would save them the hassle of going out to speak to Shino's father. The older man looked from the young boy to his eldest daughter in the back, the white eyes narrowing slightly. " Hinata, go off and set some tea for your sister, Shino, and I. This will take some time to explain."

The short haired Hyuuga flinched when her name was called out but nodded. " Y-yes, Sir..." with out wasting another moment, she walked out and closed the door quietly.

Shino watched her leave before turning to her father. There was a brief surge of anger at the elder Hyuuga before the Aburame boy managed to still it to avoid exciting his bugs. "What did you want to speak to my clan about, Hyuuga-sama?" The elder Hyuuga glanced at his youngest daughter, thinking over on how he should explain this to the Aburame.

' Better to say out than anything else.'

"Aburame, Shino. I've gone over it with a few of your clan members, though that provided nothing due to the fact that it is you choice. But I highly recommend what I say now, I've chosen you to Marry Hanabi."


	4. Fear

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plotline of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yao

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

A/N: Well, Mika's being lazy, so I'm here writing the author's note again. Thank you all so much for the fast reviewing, it's really great seeing that people want us to continue writing. Enjoy the chapter, and no worries, this is a Shino and Hinata pairing.

Though Shino did not outwardly change, his eyes widened behind his glasses. He was shocked that Hiashi would bring up something like that, now, and not before the entire clan council. When he answered, his voice was calm and steady. "I have to give thought to this, Hyuuga-sama. Marrage is not something to lightly step in to." " Understood, I can only set a ceratin amount of time though. Two weeks, I will need an answer by then. If I hear nothing from you, I will do as I wish and announce that you and Hinabi are off from others." Hiashi held a emotionless expression, not much diffrent from the usual, though something was hidden under the cold eyes.  
"Of course. I understand, Hyuuga-sama." The teen inclined his head in acknowledgement of the olderman's wishes. "If you do not mind, Hyuuga-sama, I would breach the reason I sought this meeting."

Hiashi nodded. " Not at all." Oddly enough, Hiashi was being nicer than usual, then again he held no doubt that Shino would arranged to be with Hinabi in the future.  
Shino took a deep breath before he spoke. "I have offered to Hinata the chance to train longer with me to help her improve. I felt it best if I got your approval before continueing it. I would not wish for her to get in trouble for returning late."  
" Hinata mentioned extra training from you. I suppose it is fine. It will do her good, I wouldn't want her to disappoint me anymore than she already has." The elder man lifted a hand and waved Shino off, dissmissing him. He really didn't like the idea of Hinata getting stronger. She didn't fit the role of a strong Kunoichi. Her shyness held her back. It was pathetic in his point of veiw.  
Shino bowed, placing his forehead against the ground before the clan head before raising and bowing again. Some protocol was annoying, but he dealt with it anyway. "Thank you, Hyuuga-sama. I shall contact you if I have any questions about you proposal."  
" Feel free to come by anytime, Aburame." Hiashi let a small grin appear on his face before telling Hanabi to open the door for thier guest.

Hinata had been waiting around the corner, the warm tea still in her hands. She had listened to the conversation. Soimething made her stomache feel odd. A twist here, a turn there. she didn't feel good anymore. Hanabi had always been the favored child, she always got what ever she wanted. The half lidded pale eyes stared down at the green liquid, she remembered when Hinabi used to tease her by threatening to make Naruto her husband. She knew it was stupid to say things like that since Hanabi would never. But it still stung when she said it. Now, now she could have Shino? It shouldn't have really mattered to the timid girl, but voice that had been pushed into the back of her mind said that it did matter.

Shino left the room and was surprised to see Hinata stading in the hall. The only reason he could think of was that she had been listening in. "Hinata," he started, but was unsure of how he was to continue. He, Shino, who measured what he was going to say carefully before saying, wasn at a lose for words.

Hinata nearly jumped at the sound of Shino's voice, though the only thing that ahd happened was the drop of the tea. A loud crash echoed through the halls as Hinata bent down to pick up the large pieces left. " Ah! S-shino-kun! I'm s-sorry! I- got ca-caught in m-my o-own th-thoughs." Hinata's voice was harder to hear than usual. Her hands quickly picked up the mess and moved aside the clay cups before pulling out a rag to clean away the tea. Her eyes became half lidded again as she tried to push the voice back. She should be happy for Shino, not sad. He didn't have to marry her, it was his choice... but what if he did want to after a while? Hinata it her lower lip as she slowly pulled the rag away and stood up. She shook her head and quickly turned back to wards the kitchen.  
Shino followed her. How much had she heard, he wondered as he moved quickly down the halls. He told himself that he was worried about her as a teammate, but he knew that was a lie, or at least, not the whole truth.  
Hinata brushed the broken pieces away into the trash before moving to the sink to wash the tray. Her hands shook slightly from thought. Why was she shaking in the first place. Rolling up her sleeves, she turned on the faucet and began to rubb off the sticky tea. "I-i'm glad f-or y-you Shino-ku-kun. O-otou-san doesn't m-make offers like.. like that o-often."  
Shino did a quick scan to make sure there was no body else listening. "I'm not certain that I will take the offer, Hinata-chan."  
" W-why not, S-shino-kun? It's a g-great chance t-to let your c-clan j-join mine... O-otou-san s-said s-so."

The pale hands stopped for a moment before they continued to was again. Thinking too much, she didn't realize the cut she had gotten from a stray piece of glass that had stuck onto the tray. A few of her fingers bleed freely as she washed.  
Shino caught her wrist and pulled it from the water. "You cut yourself," he said as he pulled out bandages from one of his pockets and started to bandage her fingers to stop the bleeding.  
Hinata flinched slightly when he touched her wrist. She tugged her hand back slightly, her voice in the small usual whisper. " I-it's okay, S-shino-kun. I-it'll h-heal up s-soon." A feww ribbons of blood ran freely down her hand only to be stopped by Shino's grip on her wrist. Hinata blushed lightly and looked down, one of her feet moved nervously. The little voice was only getting louder now.  
He ignored the feeling of her blood trickling over his hand, forcibly quelling the chittering of his kikai bugs. "It should still be bandaged."  
"Mm.." Hinata didn't have anything to say. She kept the pearl gaze down, not sure if she should look up at the Aburame boy or just keept listen and act like nothing was happening. "Th...thank you." What? what was this? Hinata hesitated, but didn't stutter.  
Once he finished binding the minor cuts, he quickly rinsed the blood off his hands. He looked at Hinata. He still wasn't sure what to say, but the Hyuuga household, definitly would not be the place to say whatever it was he couldn't think of.

Hinata looked at her hand, letting her fingers curl slightly and straighten to see how painful the cuts were. She wince slightly once her fingers curled. She turned back and set the tray to dry. Hiashi would send some one else to get the tea, it wasn't anything bad. Hinata looked down at her coat, it had gotten stained by the tea and at the current moment, the other coats were in the washer. Letting out a short sigh, she pulled off her jacket and handed it to a passing Hyugga member. She bowed slightly and waved at the older Pale eyed woman. ' Ah... it's cold..' Hinata wasn't used to having her coat off for long.  
Shino shrugged off his own jacket and offered it to her. "You should be careful not to get chilled."

Hinata shook her head and pushed it back into his arms. "It's o-okay Shino-kun. I-i don't want y-you g-getting cold because of m-me. That... a-and the collar w-would l-look funny o-on me!" Hinata smiled as she though about how she would look with Shino's jacket. She laughed lightly to herself.   
Shino fought back a smile as he took the jacket and drapped it over her shoulders anyway. "I'll be fine, Hinata-chan."  
Hinata looked at Shino with aworryed expression. She shook her head again. " N-no, it's fine" she pulled off the jacket from her shoulders and handed it back again. " It.. It would l-look odd.. and.. I-i don't want to g-get in t-to trouble because o-of i-it. " She smiled a bit, her eyes closeing as she smiled. " U-until y-you say n-no. Y-you a-and Hinabi are t-.. t-together."   
"I still do not know if I am going to accept. Until I agree, I am pledged to none."

Hinata looked down. He was right, but that wasn't how her father though of it. She pressed her index fingers together, like usual. " I-if you s-say so, Shino-kun"  
"Your father agreed to let me train you, and we are not supposed to meet Kiba tomorrow. We can work then, or another time if it suits you better." The Aburame held the jacket over his arm as he regaurded the hyuuga girl.  
"To-tomorrow s-sounds good." Hinata blinked a she walked over to the table in the kitchen. she had almost fogot about his. Turning back around, she held out a necklace. Hinata had spare time on her hands due to the fact that her father rarely wanted anything to do with her. It was a simply thing, black string with two green beeds on each side of an odd shapped smooth stone. Hinata's face turned red, her eyes glanced from Shino to the floor and back. "It's... a p-present. T-thank you f-for t-trying to-to c-cheer m-me u-up wh-when N-naruto-ku-kun s... said n-no."  
This time, Shino did allow himself a slight smile as he took the gift. He slipped it over his head and let it rest against his chest. "Thank you, Hinata-chan."  
Hinata pressed her fingers together again, her head lowered so that her eyes were hidden, the tin of red was still latching on to the place colored cheeks. " You.. s-s-hould go n-now. W-we'll m-meet e-each other a-at the training gr-grounds."  
"I'll see you tomorrow then," he agreed. He pulled his jacket back on and closed it before heading for the exit of the Hyuuga home.  
Hinata followed a bit after Shino just to see him off. " B-bye S-shino-kun." She waved slightly as her other hand was pressed against her chest. " R-rest w-well."

The next day, Shino waited for Hinata at their usual training grounds. He would have gone to pick her up, but he'd rather avoid the risk of running in to Hanabi at this point.  
Hinata jogged to a stop as she spotted Shino. Her hands went to her knees as she regained her breath, she had woken up rather late that morning. Not a good thing to rush through a shower and run off with out somethng to eat. The hyugga girl looked up and bowed her head. " G-good Morning S-shino-kun."  
"Good morning, Hinata-chan." Shino inclined his head in greeting. It was a warm day, and Shino knew that it would only get warmer as they trained. He pulled off and folded his jacket before setting it aside. The necklace that Hinata had given him still hung around his neck. "Are you ready to begin?"  
Hinata nodded as she straightened up, she swayed slightly but quickly got her balance back. " Yeah." Her eyes closed for a moment as she took a breath of air, she felt rather bad today. ' I'm fine, I can handle this.'  
Shino narrowed his eyes behind his shades as he noticed her swaying. Since she made no outwards complaint he wouldn't call off training. He only hoped that the'd be smart enoguh to call it off before it got to much.  
Since he still wasn't fond of letting others see how his kikai exited his body, he used the tenketsu on his legs to free them and send them swarming. He took a ready stance, the Kikai swarming around his arms and upper body.Hinata opened her eyes, showing the Byakugan. She took a step forward, her shook her head to throw off the dizzyness. Taking another breath she concentraited the Chakara into her palms before throwing them to the ground so that the mound of chakara flowed on the sufrace of the ground.

Shino moved back, out of the immeadate range of the chakra, unsure of what the Hyuuga girl was planning to do. It would be best not to find out by getting caught in it.

The pale girls legs shook slightly, that took a bit out of her. Forcing herself, she darted out of the area which the popping chakra had been released. With each step though, the mound connected to her, in other words, the chakra spread out to where ever she frankly stepped. Hinata had practiced this for a while now. She still wasn't good at it, but she could hold the soreading blanket of energy for a while. The pale hands stayed out infront of her while she moved towards Shino.  
Shino retreated before her and sent his bugs fly towards her in an attempt to blind and disorient.  
Hinata tried to ignore most of the bugs, though that didn't help her much. Oddly enough, she shuffled her feet in an pattern as she moved about. What was she doing? Her hand bolted out, trying to hits semi-painful pressure points on the Black eyed boy. ' eh, I hope I don't hit them hard.. Gotta concentrate, I... i'm getting tired..' Hinata was ignoring a lot of things now, she forced herself to stay up though. The short purple hair moved only seconds after she moved. Her bulky sweater mimiced the hair, following her upper body movements only seconds after.  
Shino winced at some of the preasure points she hit but continued to avoid the chakra charged ground. He noticed the pattern, but didn't know what to do about them.  
Hinata paused for a moment from the sudden dizzy spell she had gotten she shook her head and patted her cheeks in order to stay a up. She looked behind her, Byakugan still active, at the eavenly lated out Chakara. As if picking up something, she reached the ground. Her hand moved up swiftly, a blue line following. " Chakara w-wires."  
Shino's eyes widdened and he tried to move away from the strings of blue energy. Hinata's placement had been good though and he was soon held immobile as he ordered his bugs to start eating the wires.  
Each time the wires got to short from the bugs, she either aimed a kick at him with a wire attached, a fist, and the occasional shuriken. She was careful not to do much harm to him. This probably kept uo for a while. Shino was, by this time, trying out a new plan. He still had bugs eating the wires,but he sent the majority into the ground to eat the chakra there. The next time the wires got too short and Shino gained mobility, there was nothing left in the soil for Hinata to pull on for wires.  
Hinata looked at the space where the wires should be, the bugs had eaten it all now. 'Oh!' She didn't have enough energy for a justu of any sort. The small fagile girl had to stick with the regular weaponry and hand fighting now. Shino quickly closed the gap between them, knowing he had the upper hand in taijutsu. Hinata stepped back to open space between them so she could kick him, but suddenly her vision went black. The small purple haired girl fells back onto the ground, she had skipped breakfast today and using all that chakara didn't help her at all. The grass seemed to welcome her body, a few droplet from the morning due latched onto her skin. Her back would be wet when she got up, but that didn't matter right now.  
Shino rushed forword and caught her before she completely collapsed. "Hinata?" He shook her gently, trying to wake her up. "Hinata?"  
Hinata's breathed normally, she was still limp though. Maybe skipping out on food wasn't exactly smart. Even if she wasn't awake, she could feel Shino's arms. Her hand moved a bit, but stayed still after a bit.  
Uncertain of what had hapened to her, he grabbed his coat and wraped it around her. The extra warmth wouldn't hurt her and maybe it would wake her up. He had a hunch of what it might be and lifted her up as he started to walk towards where he'd placed the bento he'd brought. The pale eyes opened slightly from the movement. She was a bit disoriented and didn't know what whas happening. " Mmm?" She looked at Shino and let a small smile appear.  
He looked down at her, and though his glasses hid his eyes, he looked relieved. "What happened?" He sat down next to the bento, the girl still firmly in his arms.  
" I-i skipped breakfast. I d-didn't want to m-miss my lesson." She turned slightly so that she was facing his chest. She was still tired since she hadn't eaten anything. " I t-think I used t-too much Chakara t-than I needed."  
"..." He reached out with one arm and opened one of the bento. He also grabbed a pair of chopstickes. When he had a mound of rice in the chopsticks he shifted her slightly in his arms. "Eat," he commanded slightly, holding the chopsticks near her mouth.  
Hinata stared at the rice for a moment before opening her mouth. She felt warm in Shino's arms. She felt secure. She felt a lot of things, but most of them were confusing.   
Shino fed her the rice and pickled vegtables that were in the bento. He told himself firmly that he'd do the same for Kiba if the other boy had the same problem, but he had to admit to himself that he probably wouldn't hold the Inuzuka in his lap.  
Hinata kept her self from swallowing the food instead of chewing it before. She didn't want to get sick. After gulping down some food, she looked up at Shino, flushing a bit. " T-thank you."  
He just nodded before making sure that she finished off the Bento. Once the food was gone he set the chopsticks aside and loosened his grip on her. He didn't make her get up, but he didn't hold her in his lap anymore.  
Hinata stayed where she was, it would take a while before she got her energy back. Her eyes were barely open now, wanting to close so she sould rest a bit. No luck, they opened at the sound of a familiar barking. " A-akamaru?" A white dog darted from around the corner and stopped as it sniffed the ground. Hinata sat up slightly and laughed to herself quietly. The small dog yipped happily and darted to Hinata, jumping into her lap and wagigng it's tail. " Hehe, It's n-nice to see y-you too."  
"Oy! Akamaru!" another familiar voice called out as Kiba followed his dog. "Why'd you run off?" He turn around the same corner and stood gawking at what he saw.  
Hinata looked away from The white dog to see Kiba, she smiled and waved slightly. " H-hello, Kiba-kun." Akamaru turned his head and yipped at Kiba. It jumped off Hinata and ran back to Kiba, jumping into his coat. The small girl held the jacket tightly around her. The pale eyes watched Kiba, wondering what was wrong.  
Shino looked coolly at the dog boy. Kiba looked from him to the girl in his lap and back to the Aburame. "Basterd!" he shouted before lunging at the bug user.  
Shino curled around Hinata in a protective gesture and rolled out of the way of the wild lunge.  
"Ah!" Hinata didn't expect this at all, she closed her eyes tightly and gripped the pale jacket that was around her. She opened one eye to look for Kiba once they landed. The Hyugga squirmed out of the aburames arms and stood up, her legs shaking again. " K-kiba-kun?" The white dog yipped at kiba. Akamaru had jumped out of the Animal like boy and stood next to him. The hair on the small dogs back rose a bit.  
Kiba ignored Hinata, his attention, and his anger, focused on Shino. "You stinking, bug infested cock!" He lunged again at the Aburame boy who did nothing more then dodge and lead the fuming Inuzuka away from Hinata.  
Hinata followed, what had happened? Why was Kiba mad? " K-Kiba! S-Shino!" The white dog stayed by Hinata, making sure she wouldn't get hurt. She still held the Jacket close, it swayed when her legs threatened to give out. She kept moving though. " K-kiba, what's w-wrong?!" Hinata's voice was a bit louder than she would normally have it, but it was hard to tell really.  
Shino noticed that Hinata was swaying again And moved over to support her, farther fueling the other's rage.  
"Get your filthy hands off her Bug Creep!" Kiba shouted. He tried to attack Shino again, but the boy kept dodging, his arms firmly around Hinata's waist to supprt her.  
"Stop letting your anger blind you. Can you not see that Hinata is not feeling well?" the Aburame countered, his voice in the closest it's ever been to a yell.  
Hinata moved a bit, wanted to get away from his grip. "W-what's wrong w-with K-kiba-kun? S-shino-kun, let me help! " The white dog stayed to the side, barking at the three.  
"Kiba is attracted to you, but he is afraid to tell you." the bug user answered.  
"You shut up, Bug Basterd!" Kiba growled and Shino released Hinata and steped in front of her.  
Hinata pushed Shino and quickly took hold of Kiba's left arm, her own arms wrapping around. She shook from the dizzyness, her weight falling on his arm little by little. She held small tears threatened to fall from the tightly shut eyes. " Kiba-kun, stop it!" She didn't want Shino to get hurt because of her.  
Kiba looked down at her and noticed just how pale and shakey she was. He pulled her against him and put his arms around her shoulders. "What the hell did the bug basterd do to you, Hinata-chan?"  
Hinata shook her head, her hands came up and wiped away the few tears that had rolled down her cheeks. " Nothing, Shino-kun didn't do anything. He helped me. I fainted and he was taking care of me." This was the longest thing Hinata had probably ever said with out stuttering. She let Kiba hug her, She didn't want him to feel rejected like Naruto had made her feel.   
Even though it shouldn't, seeing kiba and Hinata like that together made Shino turn away. He picked up his discarded jacket and pulled it on, once more hiding from the world. "You see, Kiba. You over reacted." Kiba growled at the other male.  
Hinata pulled away from Kiba, she kissed her finger and pressed it against Kiba's forehead. " B-be nice. Shino-k-kun was trying t-to help." The pale eyed girl returned to her stuttering voice. She smiled a bit before her lages gave out fully from under her.  
Both men tried to catch her, but Shino was the quicker. Kiba looked about ready to try and fight again, but a very pointed look from Shino made him turn away. "Take her home, Bug Creep." Shino ignored the comment and started to walk towards the Hyuuga compound. Akamaru yipped worringly at Shino and Hinata's directing as he jumped onto Kiba's head.  
Hinata turned her head slightly. She called out to Kiba softly. " K-kiba-kun. Come b-by later. W-we can go f-for a walk." The pale lips curled into a small smile before she looked up at Shino. " A-am I that m-much t-trouble?"  
"You are no trouble at all, Hinata-chan," he answered. It was true, Kiba was the problematic one.  
Hinata stayed quiet, not sure if Shino was just being nice or saying the truth. ' Shino isn't one to send compliments...' She cruled up in the Aburames arms to keep warm. Hinata was infact fagile, she had gotten this sick just from not eating in the morning.  
"Next time, do not skip breakfast, even if it makes you late. I would rather wait then have you ill." it seemed the Aburame could read thoughts, but then, it had always seemed that way.  
" O-okay." Hinata closed her eyes her head resting against his chest. " Y-you and Kiba m-mean s-so much to me. Y-you b-both treat m-me l-like family."  
"We're a team," Shino said, as if that explained everything.  
" T-teams don't a-always m-mean family." Hinata curled a bit more. They had reached the Hyugga compound, appearently Hanabi had been waiting outside.  
" Aiy, Hinata you're worthless." Hanabi spoke out once Shino had reached the front gate. " Getting people to carry you home is only going to make you weaker than you are." Hinata stayed quiet. She didn't want to say anything.  
"There was an incident while training." Shino did not lie, but his omitment of information made it seem as though it wasn't Hinata's fault. He carefully set the girl down. "Will you be able to walk, Hinata-chan?"  
" Y-yes, Shino-kun." Hinata stood up straight and bowed at Hanabi. " I fo-forgot to eat Breakfast." She twiddled her fingers together. " B-bye S-shino-kun." Hinata walked into the estate rather quickly.  
Hanabi watched her leave before turning around, a smile on her face. " Otou-san wanted me to check to see if you had an answer yet." In truth, Hanabi was lying. " What do you think about this whole deal anyways, Shino?" Hanabi took a step forward, her arms crossed behind her back.  
"It is a great chance for an alliance between our clans, but I have no answer for your father yet. Before I answer, I need to be sure that you can accept what you would marry."  
Hanabi tilted her head in a curios manner. " Accept? Shino, I have nothing to hold against you. What would make me refuse you?" Unlike Hinata, Hanabi hadn't seen the black eyes. But like Hinata, she also hadn't seen how the bugs came out.  
"All the same, you need to be aware of what I am. Is there a place where none will interrupt?" Shino did not want to show Hanabi the things he was going to, but nor did he have much of a choice. If he was going to seriously consider this offer, she had to know what she'd get herself into.  
Hanabi nodded, stepping with in the property of the compound, she turned and went around a corner of the out side wall. the girl was smaller than Hinata, but stronger. Hanabi was the complete opposite of Her elder sibling. She was blunt, cruel, outgoing, and stood a chance as the heir of the Hyuuga family.  
Shino followed her, reaching up to adjust his glasses. It was one of the very few nervious gestures he had, and it went unnoticed just like his others. Part of him hoped that she'd be repelled by what he was going to show her, the rest was indifferent, seeing it only as a way to consider the possible joining of their clans.  
Hanabi leaned against the wall, an eyebrow arched. She waited for him to show her what was so bad that it would make her reject him. He was strong and had the special bugs that his clan used for fighting. Not to mention that he was rather cute.  
Shino took a deep breath before turning to face her. He'd do the easiest first. He reached up and grabbed the thin wire arm of the sunglasses he wore and pulled them away from his face. His eyes were closed when he lowered the glasses. He opened his eyes then, reveiling their complete blackness.  
Hanabi pushed off the wall and took a step closer, her eyes had widened slightly. The young girl shook that away though. They're like the Hyuggas, only black. Nothing to be ashamed about." She pulled back a strand of hair that had fallen from behind her ear. She crossed her arms over her chest. " Is there anything else? If not then fine. Otou-san won't care either. Hinata might get scared by it, but that doesn't matter. You're just her team mate, nothing more."  
"There is another thing." He left his glasses off and placed them in his pocket. He then removed the jacket and set it folded on the ground. "You need to see how my Kikai exit."  
Hanabi stepped back, her arms still crossed. " Go on then." The girl watched carefully. Her eyes were diffrent from Hinata's, they didn't show and kindness or warmth.  
Shino nodded and called to his bugs. Slowly the tenketsu across his chest, arms, and neck enlarged and opened to the black swarm. They crawled out from under his skin and over it or fly into the air around him. There were reasons for the Aburame form of dress, good reasons. Hanabi jumped at this and quickly ran off. This caught her off gaured. Not many knew how the aburame released thier bugs, Hanabi wason in the small group. The sound of a sliding door being shut echoed a bit. Hinata's voice could barely be herd as she asked what had happened to Hanabi. Hanabi only replied with a 'Shut up'.  
Shino just sighed and reached for his jacket, calling the Kikai back within himself. He had expected something like this, but there still had been a small bit of hope that someone outside his clan would be able to accept the Aburame ability. Once his jacket was back in place and no longer buzzed with irritated bug, Shino left the compound and headed for home. 


	5. Kiba

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plot line of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

A/N/M: -yawn- well, here's the next chapter. I thought this all turned out rather cute. Poor Hinta doesn't know what's going on in her own heart. -shakes head- Anyways, sorry for the whole ' Kiba being a Bastard' -not really ;;- but eh, it keeps the story line up. Plus something funny will come up soon enough to shut him up. Go go and read... shoo... Meh.

The timid girl walked out of her room later that day. She had taken a nap and it was now around later in the afternoon. She looked around for her sweater that she had set on the table when she walked if after Shino had helped her that morning. Nothing. She let a sigh escape as she walked back to her room to pick out a thinner jacket that she usually never wore. Hinata liked her bulky jacket, it made her feel safe. The thinner jacket was about the same, just as long and the same color. The main difference was that it wasn't as loose and the furry like rim wasn't at the bottom. She still had a hood, but then again she never used the thing. Walking back out she looked down the hall. Hanabi had ran by scared earlier, she was curious to know what had spooked her little sister. Quiet taps from her feet echoed in the halls as she made her way to Hanabi's room

Hanabi sat on her bed, trying to get her mind around what Aburame Shino had showed her. His eyes, fine, she could deal with that, it wasn't that bad. It was the sight of all those bugs crawling out of his body like that that had done her in. Honestly, how was anyone supposed to get over the fact that their lover could actually _do_ something like that.

" H-hanabi-chan?" Hinata tapped on the rice paper door lightly, her feet shuffled nervously. " You.. you o-okay?" The soft voice seemed as if the wind was talking, But Hanabi was her sister therefore she could tell the difference. Her fingers poked at the other. Her head was tilted to face the ground like always, she felt rather odd in her summer jacket

"Oh, I'm just fine," she replied scathingly. "I'm just completely creep-ed out about what the guy I'm supposed to marry is capable of." Sarcasm dripped of practically every word, but there was still that undercurrent of fear. Hinata hesitated at first but opened the sliding rice paper door so that she could peek in. " W-what did Shino-kun d-do?" Hinata was now even more curios to know what had happened, had she seen his eyes? No, that couldn't be it, his eyes did nothing special. They were only black, nothing to be frightened by. Hinata had been Shino's teammate for some time now; she knew he wouldn't do anything bad to anyone unless he had a good reason.

"He showed me how the kikai bugs exit his body." Hanabi shuddered. There were some things that it was just better not to know, and she was of the opinion that that was one of them

" H-his b-bugs?" Hinata tilted her head a bit as she stepped in. She turned and closed the door silently after her. The short haired girl bowed before taking another step, she sat next to Hanabi. " Try n-not t-to think about it." Hinata kept her hands to herself, her eyes still fixed on her index fingers. " You... you don't h-have to marry h-him." It was true, she didn't. If she asked Shino not to agree, then it would be settled and held off for some one else

"You think Father is going to let me break of the marriage?" Hanabi scoffed. "He'll simply tell me to get over my childish fears." Normally Hanabi didn't like Hinata anywhere near her, but she admitted, grudgingly, that Hinata was a good listener

The older girl flinched slightly. " S-sorry." She stayed quiet for a moment before speaking quietly again. Hinata always offered a hand to her sister, no matter how mean her sister was to her. " Y-you... you don't h-have t-to tell Father..." What? Hinata planning something behind her fathers back? ' Huh?" Hinata thought for a moment, why did she just suggest that. " Ah, n-never mind.

"It doesn't matter any way. He'd find out I asked somehow. Thanks for listening, now get out of my room.

Hinata smiled a bit before stepping out of Hanabi's room. ' I guess he would find out. He always does.' She walked down the hall, saying the occasional hello to the other passing Hyuugas. She walked to the front entrance and placed her shoes on. She didn't want to stay in the compound

As she exited, Kiba looked up. He'd wanted to go up and knock on the door to ask if she still wanted to walk, but he knew that the Hyuuga's didn't exactly approve of him. Hinata blinked and stared at the animal like boy. She laughed quietly to herself, she turned and closed the door behind her before looking back at Kiba. " Y-you came, Kiba-kun.

"Of course!" Kiba grinned at her and motioned her to catch up to him. "You thought I wouldn't?

Hinata fiddled with her fingers, her cheeks flushed into a light pink. This was Hinata's first date, and with Kiba too. She hoped that it would be with Naruto, but beggars can't be choosers. " W-where's Akamaru?" Hinata was just wondering, but the small dog was probably in his jacket

As if to prove her theory right, Akamaru poked his head out of the dog boy's jacket and yipped a hello to Hinata. Kiba laughed slightly and rubbed the back of his head. " Ah! Hello, A-akamaru." Hinata reached out and patted the small white dog. " Hehe." The small purple haired girl stepped away, her gaze down as always. " W-we should g-get g-g-oing.

"Ah, right. So was there any place you wanted to walk? Favorite spots?" He was trying to be polite and gentlemanly, but that wasn't really his strong point, and you can't really blame him

Hinata took a moment before looking up through her bangs. " Ah.. erm... Any.. anywhere with f-flowers r-really.." Hinata loved flowers, they were pretty. Even though they were fragile, they struggled to grown in the oddest spots. She found that rather fascinating about them

Kiba nodded and so the two of them were walking side by side. Kiba tried a few times to start a conversation, but he had little to no success with that. She gave short answers to what ever he asked her. Hinata didn't have much to say anyways. She had ended up holding the small dog in her arms, petting it's fur and tickling under it's chin. Silence swept over for some time. She didn't pay much attention to where they walked.

Eventually, they found themselves in a small memorial garden on Hokage Mountain. Kiba ran off a moment to pluck a flower for Hinata before returning and offering it to her. He figured that this would be a perfect place for her. She loved flowers, after all. Hinata took the flower, Kiba was trying and she gave him credit for it. Kiba didn't usually act this nice, not to anyone. " You r-really l-like me don't y-you, Kiba-kun?" Hinata looked at the flower. The stem was pinched between her index and thumb, which rubbed together making the flower spin around slowly

Kiba blushed and looked to one side slightly. "Yeah," he answered. Akamaru squirmed happily in Hinata's arms.

This made her feel bad in a way. She had liked Naruto, but he had rejected her. She was going to end up doing the same. On the bright side though, she wasn't going to be as insensitive. " K-kiba-kun, you're... you're sweet. You t-try h-hard to be nice f-for me." Her small smile faded into a small frown. She didn't like rejecting her dear friend. She didn't want to make him feel bad

Kiba gave a deep sigh. "I get it, you're still hooked on Naruto, right? Well, as long as you're happy, I guess I can deal with that." He gave Hinata a hug. "Thanks for giving me a chance though, Hinata.

Hinata hiccupped when Naruto's name was spoken. It still hurt. " N-no, Kiba-kun." Hinata shook her head; she hugged the small dog to make her feel better. " Na-Naruto..." The words came back to her,

_'I don't love you, I'm sorry Hinata-chan.'_

She held back droplets again like earlier, she didn't want to cry. "Na-Naruto-kun s-said n-... n-no.

Kiba looked at her in shock. His expression slowly turned to one of anger as a low growl trickled from his throat. At the moment it was uncertain who he was angry at, himself, Hinata, or the absent Shino. "Why then?

Hinata slowly looked from the ground up to Kiba with wide confused eyes. " H-h-huh?" She was surprised on the growl that Kiba had let out. It startled Hinata

"Why not stay with me then?" he demanded. There was something of a hurt tone in his voice, but the anger over powered it

" Ki... Ki.. Kiba.. I.." Hinata set down the small dog that ran back to the angered boy. It yipped worryingly at Hinata and yipped towards Kiba. What ever it was saying to the boy, it was trying to calm him down. " Ah... c-c.." Hinata couldn't speak well, the way Kiba spoke sent a cold shiver down her spine. There was a 'tap', signifying that she had taken a step back

"Do you like someone else, then? Is that it?" His voice was beginning to rise in anger as he ignored his dog's attempts to calm him.

" N-n... N-no, Ki.. Kiba." Hinata took another step back. She didn't like anyone currently, well she didn't think so. She though about it again, this time though, Shino's name came into mind. "Ki...Kib... Kiba, yo-you're s-... scaring me...

Saying that didn't help, it only seemed to make it worse. "_I_ scare you? I _scare_ you?" Kiba laughed, but it was not his normal, light-hearted laughter.

Hinata flinched. The distance between them grew larger every few seconds. Hinata had began to tremble from fright. " Ki.. Kiba. I-I.. I'm sorry... P-please.. c-c-c-calm d-d-own." Her hands were on her chest, one clenched over the other

Kiba advanced on the timid girl. She was doing the worst thing possible in front of an angry dog. She was showing her fear and backing away. Hinata took a few more steps backwards before nearly tripping. She herd a crack from her ankle. She looked down to see if she was able to move it still. It was fine, she just cracked a joint. Wet drops fell on the ground when she had looked down. Hinata wasn't crying, but tears still rolled down. The white dog yipped angrily at Kiba, following him, trying to make him stop. Hinata looked at the small animal, her eyes widened a bit more. ' Kiba-kun is acti-... oh... oh no...' She snapped her head back up to look at the boy with red markings on his cheeks

Kiba's growl grew louder as he advanced on the girl. He thought she was injured, he'd heard the pop. At the growl, Hinata turned on her heel and dashed off. She had started crying now. Where she was going, she didn't know. She was running at full speed, the crystal like drops fell from her eyes when they got too heavy and landed in her short hair. She wanted to go somewhere safe, some place with some one. Kiba was her friend, and she did feel safe with him at most times. But he had been the cause to why she was now running. The flower he had given to her had been left behind. Hinata had stepped on the fragile thing when she ran off. ' What did I do? I'm sorry Kiba. I didn't mean to hurt you. I tried not to. I'm sorry.' Why Kiba had to let his anger off like that was beyond Hinata. The poor girl had run of crying, this wasn't a way to repay some one who had given you a chance

Kiba started after her, but a set of very sharp teeth in his leg stopped him. Instead, he pried the puppy off his leg and angrily started for his home. He had to pause several times to pry the puppy's teeth from his arms.

The pale girl hadn't stopped. Her legs ached, her nose was some what stuffy, and her eyes stung from the crying. The tears kept dripping off though. Right, left, up, right, right, around, left. It felt like she was in a large maze made of people buildings, and other things. She wanted to stop, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She still had no clue to where she was going. It wasn't anywhere near the Compound, or the Academy. Those didn't feel safe. ' Stop crying, stop it!' She mentally scolded herself for letting the water from her eyes fall. " I said stop it, why am I crying? It was a mistake! Kiba didn't mean it!" Shino's name came to mind again. ' Go away! Stop crying, stop thinking!' Suddenly she had hit something knocking her and the object over. It wasn't hard but it certainly wasn't soft and it.. _'oof'ed_?

Shino landed rather hard on his back and looked at what had run in to him. He was surprised to find a crying Hinata laying on top of him. His arms went protectively around her and he stood, bringing her with him. "What's wrong, Hinata? What happened?

The red tinted eyes only stared. Why did she run into Shino? With that question in her mind her lower lip quivered as she began to cry again. Her arms wrapped around his stomach and she buried her face into his chest. The tears wiped onto the wide collared jacket. Her hands clenched on to the jacket. She found her stop where she felt safe from everyone. No one could harm her now. She was safe

They were standing in the middle of a crowded street and Hinata was crying into the front of Shino's jacket. His arms were around her slender frame as it shook with sobs. Hinata raised her head to look at Shino once most of her sobs were let out. " K-Kib-hic-Kiba s-hic hic- scared m-me. -hic- I-I di-hic-didn't know w-wha-what g-go-hic-t him-m so m-mad." She let out a cough as one of her hands covered her mouth; a few 'hics' were heard during and after the cough.

Shino's eyes narrowed and he had to fight to keep his kikai from swarming and going to attack the idiotic dog boy. Hinata reached up and gripped the angered Aburame. She enjoyed the sound, it relaxed her, but right now it meant that Shino was angry. " Sh-Shino, h-h-he ov-ver reacted. C-calm-m Dh-down." She had just asked the Animal boy to calm down, she only hoped that Shino would listen to her unlike Kiba.

The teen took a deep breath and shoved his anger away. The last thing that Hinata needed was for him to scare her. "We should move from the streets." His voice was calm, and the thrumming had softened to the normal inaudible level

The small girl sniffled as she nodded. Hopefully, by tomorrow, Kiba would be fine. She didn't want him to stay mad at her. " I-I'm sor-ry th-that I ran into y-you." The timid girl wiped her eyes with her summer jacket. She felt rather embarrassed now. She let a small smile spread as she followed after Shino.

Black eyes watched the small girl leave. Who would've though that the Aburame and the small Hyuuga girl would end up together? The monotone voice let out a 'feh'. The owner turned away, hands shoved into his pockets. The black eyes closed as the boy walked away. ' This was unexpected..' The boy moved away from people who stood talking and ignored the small cries of ' WAH! Sasuke!'. This was going to be fun to watch.

Several moments later, a familiar blond ninja ran up behind the Uchiha. "Where have you been, Sasuke-Teme?" The raven haired boy stared at Naruto, a small smirk was plastered on his face. " Since it has some relation to you, Dobe. I guess I'll tell." He pulled out his hands from his pocket. " Remember when you told me and Sakura about how you had rejected the Hyuuga girl and made her cry?"

"Uh.. Yeah.." This particular subject made him uncomfortable. He still felt bad about making Hinata cry. "She found some one. Her and the Aburame apparently are an item now." He pointed behind him, showing the barely visible Hinata and Shino walking side by side. Hinata seemed to be sticking rather close to Shino, her hands holding onto the jacket

"I'm glad she's happy now." Naruto gave his fox-like grin. He supposed that Hinata hadn't taken his rejection as hard as he'd thought. Well, it all worked out for the best

Sasuke let his smirk go into the usual frown. " That doesn't mean she'll forgive you. Keep that in mind, Dobe." Sasuke shoved his hands back into the white shorts and walked pass the Fox boy. " For all we know, she probably is scared to go near you now." He was just messing with Naruto now

"Hinata's not that way. And I'm not a Dobe! Teme!"


	6. Realization

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plot line of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yao

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

A/N/T: Once again, we have had to spil a really long chapter into two chapters. For those of you who also read OFWE&CB you'll know we just had to do the same thing. Now that that's aside, here's the chapter you have all been waiting for, and no it's not a lemon! . 

Over the next few days, whispers spread about the supposed couple. Shino had gone by the Hyuuga residence several times to give Hanabi the chance to approach him. He was going to give her another day before he told Hiashi that he refused the proposal, perhaps she simply had to get her mind around it. He doubted it, but he would still give it the benefit of the doubt

While Shino had done that, Hinata had been avoiding Kiba for a while. She was still rather frightened to go near him. She'd come to training late, and mostly keep by Shino's side. She felt bad, but she wanted to give Kiba time to think and calm down. Usually after extra training with Shino, Hinata would go around to pick new flowers that would replace the old ones around the house. When other nins were around, she'd constantly hear her name of Shino's. What was so interesting about them? She didn't think much about it. She didn't like going into other's business. She glad to notice that she hadn't seen Naruto since the day he rejected her. It was probably since she didn't go around the places he'd go anymore

Shino picked up on the rumors once people got brave enough to whisper around him. He did his best to quell them, but it didn't really work since people took his stony silence as refusal to share details.

Hinata had been in the flower shop which Ino's family owed, it was there where she was confronted by the Blond mind swapping nin. This surprised Hinata, and when I mean surprised, I'm talking about 'passing out from shock' surprised. Ino could've sworn that Hinata made a dent in the floor from the way she toppled over. The shy girl was worried now. This rumor wasn't true and if it had reached the Hyuuga compound, she'd be in a load of trouble. She only prayed that Kiba hadn't herd the 'news'

Luck was not on their side. The next time Hinata and Shino met up for private lessons Shino was looking rather the worse for wear. There was a gauze pad visible on his cheek and bad bruising. Almost certainly there were more bruises and injured on the rest of him, but those remained hidden under his jacket

Hinata walked up smiling only to tilt her head and reach up at the pad. " S-Shino-kun. What h-happened?" Her stuttering had started to fade around Shino and only around Shino.

Hinata didn't notice this, no surprise really, it was barely noticeable

"Don't worry about it, Hinata," was all he said. He'd rather she didn't find out that it had been Kiba who caused the damage. He also didn't want her to know that he could have stopped it had he actually fought the other male

She looked at him oddly, only to accept that he probably wouldn't say more if she asked again. " I'm sorry I-I missed training t-today." Hinata was rethinking the lesson for today to go ask Kiba what had happened when she wasn't there. Shino wouldn't tell her, she'd have to go to the next best source

"It's fine." Inwardly, Shino was glad that Hinata hadn't shown. It made it so the dog boy only took his anger out on him and he didn't have to worry about Hinata getting hurt. Hinata looked at her hands that held the ends of her normal jacket

She wanted to know what had happened to Shino. " Shino-kun, I-I'm not f-feeling well. I came b-by to give you some l-lunch." She pulled up the Bento box from her side, giving it to the Aburame. " I'll see you to-tomorrow." She didn't give time for the Bug boy to speak, she simply left. ' Time to find Ki... Kiba..'

He took the Bento and watched her leave. As a precaution, he didn't want her passing out on the way home, he sent a few of his bugs after her so that he would know if anything happened.

The Hyuuga walked rather quickly. Not at the pace some one would if they were in a hurry. Her hands held one another as they were pressed against her chest. ' It'll be fine. Kiba will just act like the nice guy he is. He just has a problem dealing with emotions. Nothing that bad. Maybe I just over reacted. Kiba wouldn't hurt me.' Hinata wasn't sure about the last part, but she kept hope that he wouldn't. The three of them had gone through a lot as a team. A little miss understanding couldn't break their bond.. could it?

Kiba was prowling around Hokage Mountain when Hinata finally found him. He didn't have Akamaru with him. His anger at Shino and Hinata had made the puppy refuse to help the Inuzuka. His fight with Shino earlier that day had been the crossing of the line between the two.

Hinata stayed at a distance, keeping at corner from the Animal like boy. She attempted to bring herself to speak but hesitated for a moment. ' It's just Kiba, he.. he won't hurt me' She took a gulp, her arms against her chest and her clenched hands lightly touched her chin. "K-k-kiba-kun?" Hinata could've ran just not and forget the whole thing, but she didn't

"What do you want, Hinata?" He turned to face the shy girl, his face empty of the friendliness that had so infused the boy before. Privately, he was hoping that she'd come to tell him that she'd made a mistake and did want to be with him and not the Bug Bastard. He doubted it.

Hinata looked down. This wasn't the Kiba she knew just a few days ago. " W... Wh-what h-happened t-to S-shino-K-kun?" She shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Yes, Hinata was still frightened, but we all had to go up to our fears. Big or small. She wanted Shino to be here, she really did. It was hard to face a friend who you had been avoiding for a few days. And to think, the reason he was like this was all because of her. ' I need to make It up to him someday...'

"Why don't you go ask him? His is your 'Boyfriend' after all." Kiba turned and started to walk away. Despite how angry he still was at the two of them, he really felt no urge to hurt the trembling girl who reeked of fear.

Hinata crouched down, hugging her knees. She felt **horrid**. " Kiba-kun... I-I'm s-sorry." There were no tears. Not this time. It wasn't the fact that she wouldn't cry, she forced herself not too. Hinata cried a lot when she was hurt or scared. She wanted to stop, she needed to stop in oder to get stronger. " Shino-kun i-isn't my.. my b-boyfriend. E-everyone ha-has it a-all wr-wrong..."

Kiba snorted. "And that's why everyone saw you tackle him in the middle of the street and then stand there hugging him, right?"

"You s-scared me! Kiba-kun, you w-were going to atta... attack m-me. I... I e-ended up running in-into him. S-shino-kun means j-just as m-much as you d-do to m-me." No, Hinata was lying to Kiba and herself. The Aburame did mean something, but it wasn't at the same level as Kiba

"Don't lie to me, Hinata," the Inuzuka growled. "I can smell it when you lie. If you two are together, fine. I'll find a way to deal. I'm pissed off because you both hid it from me. I'm also pissed because you went on a date with me, and had me hoping, just for me to find out that you were already with that Bug Bastard! Do you know what that does to a man, Hinata?? Knowing that it was a pity date??"

"...No..." It wasn't a pity date... Hinata just didn't want him to be hurt like she was. " M-me and Shino-kun n-never we-went on a d-da-date. W-we weren't hiding any-anything." Look, look at what she had caused. Hinata didn't like this. She made too many flaws. The shy girl bit her tongue to refrain from crying. She felt useless, stupid, insecure, horrid, sad, weak. What she and hated the most was the fact that she not only gotten Kiba to push her and Shino away for some misunderstanding, but that she only ended up hurting some one more than Naruto had hurt her. Poor Poor Hinata.

There was suddenly a figure standing behind Hinata. Dark sunglasses and a wide brimmed jacket betrayed the person's identity. "You need to learn that rumors are rarely truth, Inuzuka-san." Just the fact that Shino had switched the use of his name cut the dog boy

"Filthy, Bug-stuffed Bastard!" Kiba growled. He was sorely tempted to continue the beating that had started that morning.

Hinata jumped in surprise. She didn't expect this. Looking back at the clone she shook her head. " This i-is m-my fault. Kiba-kun h-has the ri-right t-to be m-mad." Well in her opinion he did.

"You did nothing wrong Hinata." The clone looked and spoke exactly like Shino, so that it was likely that neither noticed it wasn't the real Aburame. "The fault is his for believing silly rumors.

Even if it was a clone, it felt almost the same. She took a deep breath, this was getting complicated. "Be n-nice. I still ended u-up hurting him w-without meaning t-to... A-and it's hard n-not to believe t-things when you l-like some one." Why was it that most group of friends had to have a love triangle? Life would be a lot easier with out them

Shino, or rather his clone, chuckled softly. "You think you have a right to be outraged, Kiba? What, then, about Hinata whom you are abusing? She has more right then you to be angry, and yet she's trying to patch your friendship."

Did Hinata really have the right to be angry? She didn't know. Hinata wasn't one to get angry, agitated yes, but not angry. The Hyuuga girl had nothing to say. She was too busy thinking it through in her head. ' I want Kiba to be our friend again... but... I understand why he can be upset. No one can choose who they love. But not every one can return the feeling. Some have to be forced into it, and some have to be forced out. Kiba tried to attack me because of a misunderstanding, but I led him on. Shino-kun got hurt by it, but he did it for me not to get hurt...'

For a moment, it looked like Kiba was still going to attack them. Then, he turned away. "What ever. Have fun with your little clone, Hinata." With measured strides, the third member of their team walked away from them. "Ah? K-Kiba-kun, wa..." No use, he was gone. Hinata seemed to have shrunk. Her head hung low, her shoulders hunched. "I'm s-sorry..." The small girl stood a moment before turning and running off in the opposite direction. Hinata disappointed too many people, this only added onto the list. The clone looked after her before disintegrating into a cloud of kikai bugs.

Shino was glad he'd had some of his bugs follow the Hyuuga. Once he'd known where she was and what was happening, he'd sent more to form a clone of himself to protect her. He knew it wouldn't help convince Kiba that they were not together, but he'd rather deal with that rumor then worry about Hinata getting hurt. Now, he was heading for Hinata. Kiba had managed to hurt her again, and he needed to make sure that she'd be able to pick up the pieces of herself again.

Hinata ran for only a few minuets before coming to a stop at a hill. " I-I al-always me-mess u-up thi-things. Ki-Kiba does-doesn't b-believe me ju-just be-because o-of a s-s-stupid l-lie!." The purple hair floated slightly as she let herself drop to the ground. She mentally ran through to see if there was anything she could do fix this. ' What to say...

Shino, the real one this time, walked up the hill to stand behind Hinata. The angry thrum of his bugs was soft, but audible. "It is not your fault Hinata. Nothing that has happened today was your fault.

" Eh?" Hinata looked up from the grass to the Bug user. " It s-started because of m-me though..." The white eyes looked back to the grass, the pale hands twisting a single blade. " I..." She sighed. She couldn't say anything else.

"No, this happened because Kiba acted without thinking, again. Don't blame yourself for his flaws." Shino offered her a hand up. "Let's get you home. I need to speak with your father anyway.

It took Hinata a moment before reaching up and letting him help her. " Erm.. sh... Shino-kun?" The fragile girl looked at the boy for a moment before looking back down in embarrassment. " N-never mind...

Shino looked over at her a moment before turning back to the road. He placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her as they walked. Hinata mostly stayed quiet during the trip back home. She had forgotten about the marriage thing. She though to her self, wondering what Choice Shino had made. Ah, it wasn't her business she shouldn't worry. Yet, it still bothered her

As if reading her thoughts, Shino glanced over at her. "I'm refusing the proposal." He said it as plainly as if he were commenting on the weather. Not that Shino ever commented on something so trivial as the weather.

"Mm? Why?" Hinata was surprised at the sudden outburst... well it was considered an outburst since it was Shino. " W-what's wrong?" The girl looked up to him, her head tilting in a curios manner. Hanabi was a good girl.. once you pushed back her tough layer. Oh! That was right! Hanabi had gotten scared at first. " Ah! H-hanabi said she'll get u-used to you're bugs! S-she was just surprised, t-that's all!" Eh... Hinata was trying for her sister, she didn't want some one else to get hurt because of her

"It's not a matter of her becoming accustomed to them. She was, and no doubt still is, disgusted by what I am. I will not push her into a marriage."

"... E-even if that is th-the case... Otou-san w-won't agree to th-the weak reason..." It was true, To Hiashi; this was something that could be easily fixed in a matter of days. Hinata felt bad for her sister, their father always pushed her to do better than what she, herself, could ever do

"It does not matter, the decision is mine. Your father may be able to force Hanabi into it, but he has no sway over me."

Hinata hesitated to speak but before she could begin she stopped. It was Shino's choice and she couldn't do anything about it, but he wasn't part of the Hyuuga family, he didn't know their strict punishments. As long as Shino didn't state to why he refused, Hanabi would be safe, and so would she

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, as was more normal between the two. When they neared the Hyuuga compound, however, both were met with Sasuke leaving it. The Uchiha cast a glare on Shino and walked away.

'Eh? Sasuke-kun? What would he be here?' The pale eyes followed after the cold black ones until they passed her. Hinata thought nothing of it. I mean, what could Sasuke possibly want from the Hyuugas? "Mmm.." Still she couldn't help but feel a twist in her stomach. Shino also watched the traitor walk away. Once the Uchiha was gone, Shino walked into the Hyuuga compound. Hinata slipped off her shoes at the front and stepped in quietly, the sweet Hyuuga girl from before was standing in the front hall. She smiled and bowed at Shino before quickly taking Hinata's hand.

" Ah?! Tsukiko-san?" The one names Tsukiko placed a finger to the pale girls lips, making her quiet down. "Go hide Hinata, I.. I don't know what happened but Hiashi is mad. Stay in your room until I say to come out, the Uchiha boy came by just now and told Hiashi something to make him upset. Stay quiet and please, please don't come out." Hinata turned her head to give Shino a worried look before following Tsukiko's order to her own bedroom

Shino let her leave before turning to Tsukiko. "Hyuuga-sama is waiting for me, then?" He knew the woman would lead him to wherever Hiashi was.

The older girl nodded. " Yes... come with me." She turned a corner and walked cautiously. "Shino... if Hiashi-sama says anything about Hinata or Hanabi, don't comment on it at all. Skip what ever he said and just continue as if it had nothing to do with them." Tsukiko stopped after a few more steps, listening for anything. She took a breath and opened the rice paper door next to her. " Hiashi-sama..." she bowed and stepped aside to let the boy in

Shino had nodded to her words, and now he entered the chamber and bowed to the head of the Hyuuga clan. "Hyuuga-sama."

Hiashi let out a loud sigh and disappointment filled the sound. " From.. What the Uchiha boy told me, you're basically refusing the offer. Correct?" Hiashi may be strict, but guests were guests. " Taking my oldest ones hand instead of the stronger one... feh. She poses nothing..."

"You are correct, I am refusing the offer. The reasons are my own, Hyuuga-sama."

" I respect that Shino." Hiashi though for a moment going over his own mind to see if there was anything in particular that he should state out.

" Such a loss that you refuse." Instead of Sending Shino out by keeping quiet, the head of the clan stood up and walked out himself through another door. He had to talk to Hanabi now, his youngest daughter had enough time to prepare herself.  
Since he had not been dismissed, Shino stayed where he was. He may be refusing the marriage offer, but he was not rude.

"Psst, Shino-san." Tsukiko opened the sliding door a bit and looked about. " I need a favor from you." Unlike most of the Hyuuga house caretakers, Tsukiko never wore her hair up, it showed others that she was the one to rebel slightly. Hinata stood behind the older girl, fiddling with the sting attached to her coat nervously

"What is it?" he asked, turning to look at her. Tsukiko opened the door more so that she was able to walk in. " I would like you to take Hinata with you to your house or any one else you trust. If I know Hiashi as well as anyone else in this family, he's not going to let Hinata slide out of this just because it only had to do with Hanabi." Hinata had followed Tsukiko in, clinging to the back of her shirt tightly. " I'm going to try and talk to Hiashi to leave Hinata alone. She hasn't done anything."

The purple haired girl blinked before speaking out quietly. " Ah.. b-but.. Hanabi-"

" She deserves it for being a stuck up brat, Hinata. " The timid one nodded, Tsukiko always did the best for Hinata. She trusted her. " H-hai."

Shino nodded and stood up. "I will. Let's go, Hinata." He offered Hinata one of his hands. Hinata took hold of Shino's hand quickly clung to his sleeve. She kept a bag on her back, Hinata didn't carry much, just the needed things. She felt bad for this, but she also didn't want her father coming in and blaming her for the refusal. Tsukiko moved behind the two and shoo-ed them out of the room. " Go on. Come back tomorrow in the morning, Hinata." With that Tsukiko slid the door back shut and walked out of the one Hiashi had just a few moments before.

Shino led Hinata out of the room and then away from the compound. "I will take you to my house. You will be safe there."

Hinata nodded as she let a rather small smile spread. "T-thank you, Shino-kun." Hinata felt warm near Shino. She never really realized it, and still didn't. It was just one of those things that had to put some thought into before anyone got it.

It didn't take them long to reach the Aburame grounds. The gate was shut, but Shino didn't bother to open it. He simply lifted Hinata into his arms and leapt the wall. On the other side, vast expanses of gardens were revealed. He set Hinata down and adjusted his glasses. Hinata stared wide-eyed at the gardens. She still had a hand clenched around the Aburames sleeve; she let that go as she took a step toward one of the gardens. " S-shino-kun..." She kneeled down beside a bed of flowers and other plants, her finger poking out to play with a small bug. The regular insecure expression completely vanished form the girl and was replaced with a gentle yet overjoyed one. The Hyuuga giggled at the small bug that had climbed onto her hand. She looked to her side and let another one climb onto her hand. She was careful not to harm anything in her spot beside the flowers.

Shino found himself with a small smile hidden behind his collar. He knelt down next to Hinata and brushed a few leaves aside to show Hinata where the bugs were coming from. The pale eyes went form the small bugs to Shino, her head tilting to the side slightly. " Eh?" She shifted lightly so that she could move a bit more with out disturbing anything. It was a small hive of Kikai bugs that were being prepared for a newly born Aburame.

"In about a month, my cousin will be able to receive her hive." The two bugs on Hinata's hand buzzed before flying back to the hive. Hinata watched them fly off and looked closer at the hive.

" E-every one has their own... " She leaned back away from the hive a bit, giving it some space. 'A Hive?' Hinata laughed inwardly to herself, she found this interesting and some how amusing. It also brought up a question. " Shino-kun... w-where do you hide y-your bugs?" She had always wondered about his to herself but found it rude to ask. She still thought it was rude, but it was better to ask now that later.

"Inside myself, as does every Aburame." He did not hesitate to answer her, and found himself hoping that she wouldn't have the same reaction as her sister.

" I... inside?" Hanabi did explain what had happened slightly but not enough for her to understand fully. She let a few ideas pass through her mind on how they were released. Those were quickly shaken away.

"Hai." He didn't offer to show her how they were released, but asked, he would probably acquiesce to her request. " Mm..." the question was ready to escape through words but she decided to save it for later. " S-show me s-sometime." Or.. maybe it decided to come out in a different sentence. Hinata pulled her jacket sleeve over her hand, the pale fingers curling at the end to keep the sleeve end there

"If you like, I can show you now." Hinata stared for a moment and nodded. She was curios to how the Aburames let their bugs out. She felt kinda bad for asking, to a Hyuuga, that would be like some one asking if you could see through clothing. She pushed that aside and focused her attention back to Shino.

Learning from his mistake with Hanabi, Shino pulled up his sleeves to reveal his forearms. He held them out, his hands palm up and called to his bugs. Slowly the tenketsu opened and soon the bugs were crawling up and down his arms as well as hovering in the air around him

Hinata jumped a bit, she didn't expect this. Hinata was used to Shino though. Her sister didn't know him as well as she did, that and she liked his bugs. She extended her finger, letting a few land. " T-that's amazing S-shino-kun." Hinata couldn't explain it herself, but she just wasn't one to be scared off by this. It would have to take a lot more to cause her to run off in fright

Shino didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. There was a definite feel that he was happy. He let his sleeves fall to cover his arms and watched Hinata as she let a few of the Kikai crawl over her hand.

The Hyuuga giggled as she watched the bug crawl on her hands. She blew slightly at the few that floated close to her face, laughing when they came back and landed on her hand instead of nearing her face. Her pale eyes blinked at the focused on one that had landed on her nose. Hinata looked rather cute crossed eyed. Shino noticed this and admitted it. Silently and to himself, of course, but admitted it all the same.

She blew at the bug and let it fly off. The white-eyed girl moved so that she was on her stomach and eye lever with the flowers around them. Hinata felt like nothing could get her, as long as she stayed still and never left the gardens, she'd always be safe. Being careful with the bugs, she reached out and hand her hand over the flowers, feeling the softness of each one's petal

As Hinata lay there in his family's garden and he stood over her, watching and protecting, Shino, perhaps, realized what exactly it was that he felt for his teammate and friend. Shino, perhaps, realized that he loved her.


	7. Tsukiko

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plotline of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

A/N/T: I am so sorry that it took this long to get chapter 7 out. You all must hate us so much for that! Anyway, this chapter's all about Kiba, so kiba fans out there, be warned that he may be a bit OOC because, well, he's depressed, and a depressed Kiba is hard to write corectly...

Writers: Mika and Tenchi

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships(m/f) and posible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

"WAAHAAA!" The older Hyuuga sprinted out of the compound, a few yells followed after. Tsukiko was the only one who had enough courage to speak up to the Head of the clan and probably the quickest to get out. " Grumpy old stiff..." She let herself grumble quietly as she moved away from the compound. Hinata and Shino had gone off about an hour ago.

" Ah.. at least she's safe... " A finger came up and touched the bottom of the pale lips. She hadn't been out of the compound in a while; she'd usually go out to buy food and sometimes clothing. " What was I planning to do.." Hinata told Tsukiko everything, from the blunt fact to the darkest secret. Tsukiko was always there to hear her. But this was the problem, Hinata had told Tsukiko something and she had planned to go and- " Aha!" She set off in a sprint to the Inuzuka's territory.

-

Kiba sat outside the Inuzuka residence, feeling very lonely without his puppy and his team. Even when he'd been in the academy he'd had friends. Now he was just alone and that made him all the angrier. Tsukiko skidded to a stop, and instantly snapped into a regular position.

" Hey Fuzzy, What's with the droopy eyes?" Tsukiko crouched down, her head tilting to see under the hood. Her hand reached up and pulled at the fur like hem of his hood.  
Kiba looked up at her and growled before scowling off into the distance. His missing puppy was a very tangible loss. He missed Akamaru badly.

"Hey.. speak when you are spoken to, fuzzy." The pale eyes were different from Hinata's, she didn't have the fully gentle eyes like the purple hair girl did. her fingers pinched the fabric of his coat and tugged.

"Leave me alone," was the only answer she got from him. He did not want to talk to anyone, and a Hyuuga least of all.

Tsukiko frowned and reached into her own coat. From the sound of it, the object was plastic. stepping away slightly, she pointed the object at him and pulled something, making water hit his face. It was a small water pistol. " Ey! I heard what happened between you and the other two. Now spill. What's with the mood issues and why are you being a bitch to Hinata for nothing?"

Kiba sputtered and coughed before looking at her in shock. "What the hell?!"

Funny thing was that the squirt pistol looked like an actual pistol. Shinobi never used guns, it brought down their honor for them and the title of being a Shinobi. But this wasn't a gun, it was a water gun. She poked him with the end on the gun, a determined look on her face. " Hinata told me everything, now tell me why you're being an ass before I treat you like the dog you're acting."

"I don't get why she chose that buggy freak. I mean, the guy never laughs, I've never even seen him smile! And what the hell is up with those sunglasses! Even at night! You'd think he'd run into something!" Kiba was venting, he knew he was venting. He didn't care that he was venting.

" What do you see in Hinata, she's shy, weak, stupid. She stutters and can't say what ever the hell is in her mind. She fails too much that she shouldn't be able to call her self a Nin. She's a doormat and let's others walk all over here. You'd think she'd have died already on a mission." She didn't mean any of that, though she could pull it enough that it felt like she did. Tsukiko crossed her arms over her knees and she stared at Kiba. She didn't even bother to blink; she was reading his movements, trying to see what was actually bothering him.

"What are talking about, Bitch? Hinata's kind, and sweet. She's gentle and even if she doesn't know it, She's strong. It's not her fucking fault that he father's a cock and keeps shoving her down!" Kiba was growling again, his hands balled up in fists.

Tsukiko laughed. " Think about what you just said to me bashing Hinata.. Just as you see something in her, she sees something in the bug boy." She moved her hand to run though her own hair, her eyes looked to the side and back to Kiba. "Though.. I agree, I don't know what she sees in the boy. He strikes me as a rather cold person.. But Hinata says different. She says he's nice, just like you were. But from the way you put it. I think she's just covering it up."

Kiba paused a moment. He'd been about to continue bashing on Shino, but he realized he did have to give the guy his due. "Shino's not that bad," he finally admitted. "He is quiet and creepy sometimes, but in his own way he's friendly, I guess. I mean, he hasn't killed me, yet he didn't even fight back the other day when I took my anger out on him. So I guess he's loyal. He never objects to helping one of us, though that could just be because he almost never _talks_."

The Hyuuga laughed. " So you don't hate his as much as you show, eh?" she leaned over and tapped his cheek with the back of her hand. " Though, I'm starting to doubt it my self, they are just friends for now. Even if they end up with each other, they won't kick you out. The Hyuugas may be strict and cold, such as Neji, but there are the few who stand against that." Tsukiko gave a small smile to Kiba; her eyes still took in the smallest movement in hopes to find anything else.

Kiba laughed softly. "Yeah, sure. My best friend goes off with the girl he knows I like, I scare Hinata now, she probably won't come near me. And after that beating I gave him the other day, I doubt Shino's gonna come out of his way to see either. I'm thoroughly ass fucked right now."

Tsukiko stood up and whipped out another object, quickly bringing it down on Kiba's head. " No! Bad, Kiba! Don't think like that! Bad!" She gave the boy another whack with what seemed to be a ... rolled..up news..paper... along with another squirt from the water pistol...

"Ahh! What the fuck! You psycho bitch! Stop that!!"

Tsukiko squirted him again before pulling back the small toy and tossing away the paper. " Hinata just wants you to have your space and cool off, she still wants to see you and all, but she's worried that she'll cause another fight. Sadly enough, you and Shino are possibly the closest thing to a family she has. Me and Neji obviously count, but we're the nicest ones to her with in the clan. She could never stay away from you. Shino.. Well.. I can't say the same, but he probably thinks that you are over reacting and will shrug it off." she brought her hand to her forehead and sighed.

Kiba looked at the woman like she was crazy. He certainly wouldn't be that forgiving if either of them had done something like that to him, why on earth would they be. He said as much.

Tsukiko tapped her foot lightly; going over all the movements Kiba had made through out their little conversation. She smiled a bit before coughing into her hand. " Funny thing, you thought that Shino and Hinata were going out when Shino was deciding whether or not he should marry Hanabi. Hiashi-san wants our clan to start some link with other clans... Shino and Hanabi.. heh." It was a funny though to her, think about it for a moment... yep see, not a good pairing.

"You're kidding? Bug Boy and Hanabi? They'd kill each other, if Shino didn't scare her to death first by being so damn quiet."

Her hand went down and ruffled Kiba's hair through the hood of his jacket. "He refused. He scared her off. Dunno with what, but it wasn't with the quietness."  
"Wonder what he did..." In light of this interesting question, Kiba seemed to forget about his supposed hate of the Aburame. His face went from angry lines to soft curves as he thought about what his friend could have done to send a Hyuuga running.

" I guess he just doesn't appeal to some people." Kiba was rather hard to read. Oh well, the more of the challenge the better. " Speaking about scaring off, you scared Hinata pretty well. Along side that, you pretty much beat Shino, just because you were angry from rejection and who knows what." Poor Kiba, eh...Tsukiko was just happy that she wasn't part of the love triangle.

"Shino could have beaten me easily. He let me beat him... I think, maybe, he was trying, in his own way to protect Hinata." Kiba sighed. "I wanted him to beat me, that day. I was trying to provoke him. He knew that too, I could tell by how careful he was. "

"You both knew what the other was thinking, yet neither of you backed down." Men, though they proved to be well at times. " Where were to trying to aim at by provoking him?" The sister like Hyuuga tapped her fingers on the side of her leg. these kids were still too young to be in this sort of mess, but that couldn't be changed. "I wanted him to beat me, sometimes that's the only way to get me to calm down." He gave a short, rueful laugh. "I'm a lot like a dog. More then I show. Shino is stronger than me, and in our little group he's the alpha, the leader. So he's the one I went to fight."

The pearl eyes looked down to the floor, her foot kicking up dirt in thought. " I suppose you are... " There was something missing with in the puzzle that had been placed in Tsukiko's mind. what was it? " Who would you give your life for Kiba, if you had to save one only to lose one in the process." This was a mindless question actually. Even so, it might just find the piece she was missing.

Kiba looked at her for the longest moment. "I wouldn't be able to choose. I would face my own death before I walked away and left either of them to their death."

As the answer repeated it's self in her head, she let out an amused chuckle " I'm surprised you didn't choose Hinata-chan over Shino." She shifted her leg so that a spot of sun landed on the pale skin. Her finger traced along the wall between light and dark.

"I couldn't leave knowing I'd let him die, and it's the same with Hinata."

Her finger stopped, her body froze for a moment before jolting a few feet away. " That's all I needed to know Kiba." To think of this.. poor Kiba he didn't know about himself. The puzzle was placed together now. The amused girl let a slight giggle run out from the mind and into the air. " You should go and apologize to Hinata and Shino, they're at His house. Hinata needed to get away from Hiashi until I set him straight." Her arms reached up to the sky as if she were trying to catch a cloud. Maybe someday she would, but for now she pulled her hands back to cross them behind her neck.

Kiba almost growled, but he stopped himself and instead nodded. He stood up and started to walk towards the Aburame compound. Maybe he would be able to fix things between his team.


	8. Friendship

Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plot line of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

A/N/T: A rather short chapter, but it's sweet. 30 reviews! Woot! Oh, Shino may seem slightly OOC in this chapter, but oh well. Oh, just as a reminder, we do accept people into NaruYaoi. So far it's still only Mika and myself.

White flowers. Hinata adored them. They were flawless and held no guilt on them. Easily stained and easily crushed, Hinata always found herself either buying a white flower or talking to one. Soft hands reached over a stream of flowers before letting her fingers dance on the petals of a daisy. These were her favorite type. Simple and sweet, nothing fancy at all. " Do the bugs mostly keep the garden like this?"

"Yes. They keep most other insects away." A butterfly came dancing on the wind and landed on a daisy near by. "Except the butterflies and bees."

" They still add beauty to it though..." Because Hinata felt safer here than anywhere else, she felt no need to hold back as much. She turned her gaze to the nectar-drinking insect. Odd colors for a regular butterfly, but a butterfly nonetheless. Her hand had stopped so that it wouldn't make the winged creature fly off. Hinata never wanted to leave this spot. It was just her, the flowers, the insects.. and Shino. As much as she felt the guilt increase, she knew that Kiba couldn't be in her little sanctuary. Yes, it'd be nice if he could join them... but... Hinata couldn't explain it. Kiba could be with them and the flowers anywhere else, just.. not here.

Shino nodded to her words. He seemed to be thinking on something. Before he could say anything, another Aburame came over to them. She spoke softly to Shino before leaving. Shino stood.

"Kiba's at the gates," he said softly. "I will go speak to him." Hinata jerked her head up. She didn't say anything to respond. She sat up and stared at the ground, Kiba-kun was here. She didn't want to upset him more that she had already done, but... ' Maybe I'll just stay behind Shino-kun...' the purple haired girl stood up and clung to the back of Shino's jacket with her pale hands.

He turned to look at her. "You can stay, Hinata. He won't enter the grounds."

She shook her head. " H-he might want s-something f-from me..." She also didn't want Kiba to feel bad if he knew she was there.

He simply nodded and walked towards the gate, letting her trail behind griping the back of his jacket. Hinata kept rather close to Shino as they walked. She wanted to go back to her little world and forget everything, but reality had to take a stroll in during the most relaxing moments.

Kiba waited for them at the gates. He looked somewhat nervous, and there was something wrong about him not having his puppy. He perked up somewhat when he saw them both approaching, but noting the way Shino walked, drooped again. He was quick to speak when the reached him. "You both have every reason to hate me, I know that. I just had some sense forced in to me and I need to try and make things better. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. To both of you. I had no reason to fly off the handle like that."

Hinata peeked from behind Shino and stared at Kiba. Hate him? Why would they hate him. Hinata was hesitant when it came to talk to Kiba now, but she didn't think that they could ever hate him. " K-ki..." She tightened her grim slightly before speaking again. " W-we could n-never h-hate you."

Shino didn't speak, Hinata already said what needed to be said. The tension of his spine eased and he now gave a more relaxed air.

Kiba looked at them both. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you had. I'm really sorry about scaring you, Hinata."

It was harder to speak his apology to Shino, but the other man seemed to read it in the dog boy's body, because he nodded. Hinata smiled, her hands letting go of the fabric, she didn't move much, only enough so that she was more visible.

"K-kiba-kun. You're part o-of o-our family. W-we c-can't hold t-things a..against fa-family." Family was Family, no matter what. This was mostly Hinata's family. Shino and Kiba. Tsukiko and Neji were included as well, but they weren't there at the moment. Kiba smiled. He didn't go up and give Hinata a hug, though he wanted to, badly. He wasn't certain that their friendship was repaired enough for him to actually enter the Aburame grounds without an invitation.

The white eyes closed as she bowed slightly. Kiba probably felt just as bad as she did. She stood on her toes to whisper into Shino's ear. "I-i feel bad for h-him. T-tsukiko w-would get N-neji-kun t-to give me a g-group h-hug." ... Tsukiko could probably get Neji into a dress and prance around the streets if she wanted.

Shino didn't do group hugs. He rarely even did hugs. After all, it was Shino. He doubted that he'd be able to say no to it, though. Hinata so rarely asked for anything, directly or indirectly. He walked with her through the gates. And when she hugged Kiba, Shino kind of joined in.

Kiba didn't know which surprised him more, the fact that Shino was hugging him, or the fact that Shino was hugging him and the dog boy didn't mind. His head was starting to hurt from thinking too much. Hinata laughed. Hinata was a usually timid girl and easily pleased, but she didn't laugh too much, only when someone was tickling her or when something really good happened. She liked this; their little feud was over. She didn't have to hide from both families now.

Her laughter was contagious, and Kiba joined in. Even Shino let himself smile as they stood before the gates to his home. This was right, this was good. Things were back where they should be. For what seemed like seconds were minuets. Hinata pulled away, Kiba would be able to trust them more now. If things didn't go back to they way they were, they were only to get better than before.

Shino pulled back with Hinata. He was thinking along the same lines as her, but he said something completely different. "Go get Akamaru. Seeing you without him is like seeing half of you missing." Kiba grinned and sort of laughed.

"Heh, yeah.. good idea.." He ran off then, hunting for Akamaru.

Hinata stood silently her gaze sliding off from Kiba to Shino. A small flush had been placed on from the hug all three had given to each other. " T-thank you, Shino-kun."

He didn't say anything, but he offered her his hand to lead her back to the gardens she loved so much.

Hinata stared for a moment before placing her hand in his. Her tint darkened a bit more, but her expression stayed the same. Overjoyed and tired. She didn't say anything though. She wanted to see the garden again, and possibly fall asleep there with the small ocean of flowers around her.

Shino was happy, and relaxed. Kiba was straightened out, Hinata was happy and safe. There wasn't anything that would really make this day better.

Once they reached the garden, Hinata jumped back to the spot that she had been in before. She rested on the grass, her stomach facing up so that she could look at the sky. The sun was starting to go down now. Pink, purple, blue, white, orange, yellow, so many colors in just one sky. Nothing could get to them now. They were happy and will be happy. Though tough times may come, Hinata was sure they'd be able to pull though with one helping the other. She moved her hands to her forehead, the fabric covering half of her eyes.

Shino sat down next to her, his hidden eyes turned towards the sunset.


End file.
